Lesson video

Hello there my friends and welcome to the seventh lesson, in this unit of the Great Fire of London.

My name is Mr.Pedroza And in this lesson, we're going to tackle the following question.

So the question is, what changes were made as a result of the Great Fire of London? Now let's try to cut that as a structure.

That we can then begin with the star words as always.

Actually had some key vocabulary.

Then we can have a look at the role that King Charles the second played in the rebuilding of London.

Then we'll have look at the famous architect, Christopher Wren, and what role he played.

Then we can have a look at the plague and other changes that are associated with the rebuilding of the Great Fire of London.

And then we have our end of lesson quiz as always.

Now, as always, you're going to need your exercise book or a piece of paper, where you can write some notes.

You're going to need your pencil or a pen, and then you're going to need ruler in case you need to underline things.

So if you haven't got those things ready, go and get them now.

Go.

Okay.

Let's have a look and see what star words.

We've got 6 star words.

We've got comparison.

We have tributary.

You have laws, alleys, monument, and insurance.

And the first one is comparison.

Your turn then my turn.

Comparison.

Comparison.

Good job.

And comparison is the act of compare.

That is looking at similarities and differences.

So when you're looking at similarities and differences, you are making a comparison.

Good job.

Next one, we got tributary and the tributary is a river or stream that flows into a larger river or stream or into a lake.

So a river or a stream that flows into a larger river or stream or into lake, is a tributary.

Next one, we got laws and laws are the set of rules that people in a society must follow.

So the set of rules that people in our society must follow our called laws.

Next one we got alleys and alleys are narrow streets or paths between or behind the buildings.

Narrow streets that pass between or behind buildings are called alleys.

Good job.

Next one, we've got a monument and the monument is good.

This is good.

This is good actions to remember monument.

A monument is something that is built in memory of a person, event or special deed.

Something that is built in memory of a person, event or special deed is called a monument.

Good job.

And then the last one we have is insurance and insurance is a protection against certain accidents that is provided by a company in return for payment or a fee.

That is insurance.

So let's remind ourselves of how the fire spread.

You get the beginning on Sunday, the 2nd of September 1666, the Great Fire of London destroyed large part of the city.

On this map again you can see how the fire spread.

It begins where the yellow mark is.

At Thomas Farriner's bakery on the line.

It begins on Sunday morning at roughly two AM.

The fire spreads throughout the day.

Monday it spreads again.

On Tuesday and Wednesday it continues to spread.

And then on Thursday it's finally extinguished.

And after the fire was extinguished, 13,200 homes were destroyed.

84 churches were destroyed and key landmarks such as the Royal Exchange and St.

Paul's Cathedral were destroyed as well.

Around 100,000 people were left homeless with a majority of them losing all of their possessions.

Now let's have a look and see this map.

So this map again, shows you the devastation that was caused by the Great Fire of London.

So you can see some key places that were not touched.

So the Great Fire of London that area remained undamaged.

Remember that the South of London was also undamaged because there was a missing section of London Bridge.

And therefore the fire did not spread southwards.

Instead, it was concentrated mainly around the old town, the old city of London, which was the settlement, which was the site of the settlement known as Londinium.

Now let's have a look at another map.

But this map shows London as it is in 1666, and the second map on the right shows London as it is now in 2020.

So despite the extensive damage caused by the Great Fire of London, London was rebuilt and it recovered to be one of the most important cities in the entire world.

So have a look at these two maps.

What similarities and differences can you see? Again, this is London in 1666, just after the Great Fire of London.

This is London now in 2020.

So what similarities or differences can you see? So at this point, pause the video have a think, and then say, Oh, I can see that this is similar.

I can see that this is different.

Have a go and then when we'll come back, I'll let you know what things I can spot are similar and different.

Okay.

How many things did you spot that were similar? Some things that were different.

Let me tell you what I noticed.

To begin with, I noticed that there are many more bridges in 2020 than there were back in 1666.

I can see that in addition to London Bridge, which existed back then you have Blackfriars Bridge, you have Suffolk Bridge, and then you also have Tower Bridge.

So there are many more bridges now than there were in 1666.

I can also see that the river fleet.

So you can see the river fleets here in 1666, which is a tributary to the river towns.

Well, you can see it in this map in 1666, but in 2020, we can no longer see it.

And the reason for that is not because its disappeared, but actually it's just no longer visible and this river still exists, but it is now beneath the streets of London.

On the right, I noticed that there are some modern buildings as well.

So in this, I noticed the modern buildings, you got the Chaud, which is the tall skyscraper.

We have the Gurcan, which is also a modern and tall skyscraper.

You do not find those in 1666.

What things are similar? One thing that stays the same is I can still see that London Bridge still exists.

So that's London Bridge, and this is London Bridge here.

And one thing that remains constant is the presence of the river trams crossing between the city.

So that's the River Thames and that's the River Thames as well.

So those are some things that are different.

And those are some things that are similar.

The last one I wanted to throw your attention was St.

Paul's cathedral, which again, we said that it was destroyed in the fire of 1666.

St.

Paul's cathedral is still here in 2020.

So that must mean that it had to be what? Had to be rebuilt.

Good and like most things and lots of things in London after the fire, they were rebuilt, but they took some facts into consideration so that the source of the Great Fire of London would never happen again.

So let's find out how London was rebuilt.

King Charles the second, he made the speech following the extinguishing of the fire and he praised the efforts to combat the fire by Londoners.

He also proposed five recommendations to prevent such a disaster from happening again.

Having noticed that brick and stone buildings had survived mostly unscathed, he proposed that any future buildings should be constructed using these materials and failure to do so would result in these buildings being pulled down.

Let's take a look over here.

King Charles the second proposed the following, that following the Great Fire of London, future buildings should be built out of what two materials did King Charles the second proposed that future buildings be built out of.

Have a think, have a go.

Pause the video and complete the this task.

Okay lets see if you got this one, right? So King Charles the second proposed that following the Great Fire of London future buildings should be built out of brick and stone or stone.

Well done guys.

Awesome job.

And remember that he did that because he noticed that buildings that were made out of brick and stone had survived largely unscathed.

King Charles the second he said that all streets should be widened in order to stop fire spreading easily between buildings.

As a result, he said that alleys and small lanes, were to be banned.

King Charles the second also recommended that no houses be built near the River Thames.

Lastly, he suggested that any trades that use fire in order to manufacture goods had to be located outside of the city.

This he thought would lessen the impact any future fires would have.

So remember that the fire started in a bakery, in Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane.

Being a baker involves heating things up.

It involves making fire.

King Charles the second thought actually, if you use fire in your business, your business should be located outside of the city in case, in order to prevent damage in future incidents.

And most of the laws that he recommended that King Charles the second recommended, were introduced in an act of parliament called the 1667 Rebuilding Act.

Let's have a look at this questions.

It says, what did King Charles the second suggest should happen to London streets and what was the reason behind his recommendation? Here I have my answer prompt.

King Charles the second suggests that a London street should be? What did he suggest should happen to London streets.

Have a think.

Have a go.

Pause the video and complete this task.

Let's have a look and see what the answer was to that one.

So what did King Charles the second suggest should happen to London streets? Well, King Charles the second suggested that London streets should be widened to stop fires from spreading easily from building to building.

So I'm telling you that what he suggested, but I'm also telling you why he suggested that.

So they should be widened to stop fires from spreading easily from building to building.

So once again, I'm going to leave it here so that you can copy the answer down.

Great work team.

Let's keep going.

King Charles the second, you can see he got really involved in the rebuilding of London and he commissioned a man named Wenceslaus Hollar who was an artist and a mapmaker to make a map of the city, which included the damage caused by the fire and on his map, the white area that you can see here, I'm going to highlight it with my pen.

This is the white area.

The white area shows the extensive damage that was caused by the fire.

And Wenceslaus' map also listed all of the churches and other key places that were destroyed by the fire.

And you can see that in this key here.

So all of these buildings were destroyed by the fire.

Now in October 1966 AD, King Charles the second, he appointed a number of architects to make his plans for London come to be.

And one of them was a man named Christopher Wren and Christopher Wren was originally a professor in astronomy, but he had a hobby and his hobby was architecture.

And therefore he taught himself how to do that job.

Now, Wren and King Charles, they shared a similar vision for what London should look like after the Great Fire of London and Christopher Wren's plans included many of the Kings suggestions.

So the next one is which architect did King Charles the second hire to rebuild London? Was is Wenceslaus Hollar which is A or was it B Christopher Wren? Which architect did King Charles the second hire to rebuild London A or B.

Have a think.

Okay.

Let's have a look at the answer to that question.

So which architect did King Charles the second hire to rebuild London.

Architect is a keyword there because I'm trying to trick you.

So the answer is of course, ready, it's B.

It's Christopher Wren.

Christopher Wren was the architect that King Charles the second hired to rebuild London.

Remember that the other person, Wenceslaus Hollar, he was not an architect.

He was an artist and he was a mapmaker and King Charles the second also hired him, but not to rebuild London, but to make a map of the city that surveyed the damage caused by the fire.

So a full answer, a full sentence answer would be in October of 1666 King Charles the second hired a number of architects, including Christopher Wren to rebuild London.

Awesome job guys.

Well done.

I'm really impressed.

Let's do again.

Let's see what Christopher Wren did then.

So under Christopher Wren, London was slowly but surely rebuilt.

Most streets were widened.

New pavements and new sewers were laid in order to improve sanitation and in order to improve transportation.

Access to houses by the river was improved and 52 churches.

Wow, that's a big number.

52 churches were rebuilt, but his masterpiece surely has to be St.

Paul's Cathedral.

That's St.

Paul's Cathedral at the top.

The original one.

Remember that one was destroyed by the fire.

Christopher Wren decided to rebuild it.

And it was rebuilt between 1675, that's when construction began and it was finally completed in 1711 AD.

As a recognition for his work.

Christopher Wren was eventually knighted.

He became a Sir and Wren, built the monument of the Great Fire of London.

Its height marks the distance from the site of the bakery where the fire began.

And when he passed away, he was laid to rest in St.

Paul's where his tombstone reads as follows.

"Underneath lies buried Christopher Wren, the builder of this church and city, who lived beyond the age of ninety years, not for himself, but for the public good.

If you seek his memorial, look about you.

' And so what this message means is that not only did Christopher Wren rebuild St.

Paul's Cathedral, he also rebuilt the city of London and he didn't do it for himself as the quote says.

He did it for the public good.

He did it because he cared about London and he cared about its citizens.

And at the end that says, "If you seek his Memorial look about you." What that means is that if you want to remember what Christopher Wren did, all you have to do is look around you when you walk in the streets of London, because its probably, he was in charge.

He was responsible for rebuilding that part of London after it was destroyed.

Let's answer a few questions.

How many churches were rebuilt under Christopher Wren? That's question number one.

And question number two is which landmark is he most famous for reconstructing and there are my answer prompts that you can use.

So that's the point.

Pause the video, have a go answering these questions.

Good luck.

Okay let's have a look and see what the answers were to those.

How many churches were rebuilt under Christopher Wren, and number two, which landmark is he most famous for reconstructing.

So under Christopher Wren, 52 churches were rebuilt.

That's number one.

And then number two, Christopher Wren is most famous for his role in the reconstruction of St.

Paul's Cathedral.

Awesome job guys.

Well done.

Give yourselves a pat on the back.

I'm going to leave the answers up so that you can take the facts.

Okay, let's have a look at other changes associated, some of the other changes associated with the Great Fire of London.

One of the only positives to come from the traumatic events that happened in 1666, was the surprise effect this had on banishing the plague.

Despite the immense damage caused, many believe that the fire cleansed the city from the overcrowded and disease ridden streets and between 1665 and 1666, the Great Plague of London had actually killed almost a quarter of London's population in less than two years.

Around 68,596 deaths were recorded in the city.

But the true number is believed to be over 100,000 people.

The fires were said to have destroyed a large number of rats which carried fleas, which were believed to be the main source of transmission for the plague.

New laws made the city more hygienic and less cramped.

And the changes introduced were also considered important reasons why the plague has never really struck on a large scale ever since.

Let's answer this question.

So how did the Great Fire of London contribute to the end of the Great Plague? The Great Fire of London contributes to the end of the Great Plague because, think about the effect it had on rats and think about how it made the city more hygienic, more clean.

So what laws were passed after the Great Fire of London to do that.

So have a think.

Have a go.

Pause the video in order to complete your task.

Let's see.

This is quite a tricky question, but I think you've got this one, right? How did the Great Fire of London contribute to the end of the great plague? This answer says 'The Great Fire of London contributed to the end of the Great Plague because it destroyed many rat infested buildings.

New laws also made the city more hygienic and less cramped.

' Remember that it was believed that rats carried fleas, which were the main source of transmission for the plague.

So when it destroyed all these rat infested buildings, it also destroyed many rats.

And the new laws such as making the streets wider, such as spacing out buildings, made the city more hygienic and less cramped.

Now other changes associated with the Great Fire of London, were to do with firefighting and to do with insurance.

So after the fire, new rules were brought in and every parish had to have at least two fire squirts, had to have level buckets and other firefighting equipment.

It was also made easier to access river side homes, making it easier to fight fires.

And the Great Fire of London became a business opportunity for some.

Companies were set up, which would pay a given amount of money known as compensation in case of an accident.

And the very first insurance company, which was was known as the Fire Office, was established in 1667 AD, only one year after the Great Fire of London.

And that is that my friends.

Awesome job.

Well done.

Excellent work today.

It's now time to complete your end of lesson quiz.

Don't skip it.

Go and try it.

And as always, if you'd like to, you can please please ask your parent, or your carers, to show your work.

They can do on Instagram.

They can do it on Facebook.

They can do it on Twitter, but they got to tag @oaknational and they got to do the hashtag, which is #learnwithoak.

Please ask your parents or carers to do that for you.

Awesome job guys, well done.

I'm really proud of your hard work today.

I hope I'll see you in our next lesson.

Goodbye for now.