Showing Tag: "great fire" (Show all posts)

Who was Robert Hooke's neice?

Posted by Hazel Baker, Director of London Guided Walks on Friday, November 5, 2021, In : Victorian

Who was Robert Hooke's neice? Grace Hooke was the daughter of Grocer John Hooke and his wife Elizabeth. She was baptised on 2nd May 1660 at Newport parish church. She grew up in a large substantial property on Newport High Street. On 16th October 1668 her father John Hooke (brother of Robert Hooke) became Mayor of Newport. John Hooke started to borrow money from his brother Robert during the 1670's. Robert, was not a big spender and was sensible with his own money, kept an account of ...
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When is a Hospital not a Hospital?

Posted by Susan Baker, City of London Tour Guide on Thursday, July 22, 2021, In : City of London

When it’s a school founded by a Tudor king. In the Middle Ages a hospital was not what we think of today. The word has the same origins as hospitality or hotel, coming from the Latin hospes meaning both guest/visitor and host. A medieval hospital could be almhouses for the poor, a hostel for pilgrims or a school for the poor.

The sculpture by Andrew Brown commemorates the founding of Christ’s Hospital in 1552 by King Edward VI on part of the site of Greyfriars, a Franciscan monastery in th...

Great Fire

Posted by Ian McDiarmid, City of London Tour Guide on Thursday, June 10, 2021, In : Great Fire of London

The Great Fire of 1666 was devastating, destroying around four-fifths of the City of London. The main reason it was so destructive was the wind which was blowing from the south-east, and which was particularly fierce. The Dutch and English fleets vying for a fight in the Channel the night before the fire broke out had been unable to join the battle because the winds were so strong.

The direction of the wind was important as it helped usher the flames away from the river which might in other c...

The Monument to the Great Fire of London

Posted by Hazel Baker on Friday, May 15, 2020, In : Podcast

The Great fire of London destroyed four fifths of the city. The monument on fifth street Hill is a memorial to the great fire, and those who rebuilt the city without rock and roll.

The monument is the tallest isolated stone column in the world. It took six years to build to the difficulty of getting a sufficient quantity of Portland stone or the required dimensions. This caused the King to issue a proclamation on the 4th of May, 1669 for bidding any person to transport stone from the Arla Port...

Looking for Old London Bridge

Posted by Rob Smith, Clerkenwell and Islington Tour Guide on Friday, April 17, 2020, In : Great Fire of London

London Bridge is Falling Down. Anyone know a song about that? London Bridge certainly has a record of having been built and replaced many times. The first Roman bridge was built around 43AD but was replaced by a more permanent structure in 55AD (there is a great model of this bridge in the Museum of London). When the Roman’s rule ended their bridge fell into disrepair and London was left bridgeless until 878 when a Saxon bridge crossed the Thames slightly downstream from the Roman one. Acc...

What is the strange contraption in St Magnus the Martyr church?

Posted by Susan Baker, London Guided Walks tour Guide on Saturday, January 4, 2020, In : Great Fire of London

As you enter the church of St Magnus the Martyr, just to the east of London Bridge, you would be forgiven for missing this strange wooden contraption to the right. What is it? Not a mobile pop up food stall. It’s a very early fire engine. How appropriate it should be in this church as a reminder of the dangers of fire, particularly in medieval London.

St Magnus was the second church to be destroyed in the Great Fire of London – the Monument being built on the site of the first...

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