GREAT FIRE OF LONDON - FOURTH DAY

On wednesday morning the wind which had subsided the previous evening, turned upon itself. With no more fuel in its path and no wind to provide the necessary oxygen, the firestorm ceased.

At last conditions were in the firefighters favour. They were able to get near enough to douse the weakened flames and embers. The Great Fire of London had been practically extinguished.

The Church of St.Dunstan-In-The-West, had been narrowly saved by the change in the wind's direction and the quick thinking of The Dean Of Westminster who had roused forty scholars in the middle of the night to help douse the flames.

The Temple Church, on the other side of Fleet St. had also escaped undamaged. (Nevertheless. it was still refurbished by Christopher Wren. He made extensive modifications to the interior, which included an organ and an altar screen).

After getting his feet hot, by walking all over the smouldering City, Samuel Pepys, along with his friend the Admiral Sir William Penn, father of the founder of Pennsylvania, who was Baptized in this Church, climbed the steeple of Barking Church ( this refers to the Church of All Hallows by the Tower) Byward Street in the City of London, which was previously dedicated to St.Mary the Virgin.

It was first established in 675 A.D. by the Saxon Abbey at Barking and was for many years named after the Abbey) from which they viewed the destroyed City, the Great fire of London had wreaked such devastation, that it caused him to write:

"the saddest sight of desolation I ever saw."

The two contemporary sources, from where we get most of the information about the Great Fire of London, are the Diarists :Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn, (to both of whom we owe our deepest gratitude). They both visited Moorfields, which is situated just north of the City on Wednesday and saw a mass of refugees, Samuel Pepys observed:

"poor wretches carrying their goods there, and everybody keeping his goods together by themselves", noting that the price of bread had doubled.

John Evelyn horrified at the number of refugees filling Moorfields, believed

that he saw as many as

"200,000 people of all ranks and stations dispersed, and lying along their heaps of what they could save"

In the fields towards Islington and Highgate. He was moved to write:

"Many without a rag or any necessary utensils, bed or board reduced to extremist misery and poverty."

and

"tho' ready to perish for hunger and destitution, yet not asking one pennie for relief."

A strange light which appeared in the sky over Fleet Street on Wednesday night was the catalyst that stirred the frightened people in the refugee camps into violent action.

Attacks by terrorists were at the forefront of everyones minds. The war with the French and Dutch was at its height and fears of an invasion were as high as ever among the fire victims.

So perplexed and demoralized were they, in the wake of the Great Fire of London, a rumour was put about, that upwards of 50,000 French and Dutch immigrants, who were blamed for starting the fire, had mustered and it was said they were coming to cut the men's throats, rape the women and steal what few possessions they had managed to salvage.

The frightened people flooded onto the streets, looking for scapegoats, there was no discrimination, any foreigner would do. Catholics too were suspected of fomenting another Popish plot.

It was, as John Evelyn recorded only "with infinite pains and great difficulty" that they were appeased and pushed back into the fields by the Trained Bands, the Troops of Life Guards and members of the Court.

The mood in the camp was now explosive, King Charles II and his Court feared a full scale rebellion by the Citizens of London against the Crown, the majority of who had been sympathetic with Oliver Cromwell against his father King Charles I in the English Civil War.

Food production and distribution was non existant. Charles promised that every day fresh supplies of bread would be brought into the City.

So ended the Fourth Day of the Great Fire of London.

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