London’s burning — Part 2

I am sure you will recall that I told you to remember the first church to be destroyed by the Great fire of London was St Margaret New Fish Street in part 1 of this story, well today I am going to tell you about what sits, or rather stands, on the site today.

Plaque commemorating St Margaret Fish Street — “Opposite this site stood St Margaret Fish Street Hill Destroyed in The Great Fire 1666”

The plaque in the photo above is the only reminder to church situated on the site lost to the Great Fire in 1666. A total of 87 churches were destroyed in the fire and only 51 were rebuilt. St Margaret’s wasn’t one of the 51 and it’s parish was merged with that of St Magnus the Martyr located less than 100m down the hill by the original entrance to London Bridge. St Magnus’s was also destroyed in fire and rebuilt to designs of Christopher Wren.

Church of St Magnus the Martyr

I will tell you about St Magnus’s church another time but I will show you the stained glass window inside dedicated to St Margaret’s church.

Stained glass window dedicated to St Margaret New Fish Street in St Magnus the Martyr

So onto today’s tale, I expect the eagle eyed will have already spotted it in background the photo of St Magnus’s church, yes the tall column with a golden top which is known simply as The Monument. Let’s take a closer look.

The Monument, notice St Magnus’s Church steeple in the background

After the fire King Charles said the City of London should be rebuilt and redesigned to prevent another fire and that there should be regulations in place. The rebuilding act of 1667 prescribed how the new buildings should be built. It also stated that “And the better to preserve the memory of this dreadful visitation, be it further enacted That a column or pillar of brass or stone be erected on or as near unto the place where the said fire so unhappily began as conveniently may be, in perpetual remembrance thereof…” In 1677 The Monument opened.

The Monument

With St Margaret’s church not being rebuilt it left a convenient space “as near unto the place where the said fire so unhappily began” for the column to be erected. 202ft (62m) away to be precise. Why is 202ft such a significant number? Because the monument is 202ft high so if it was to be laid horizontally it’s tip would touch the spot in Thomas Farriner’s bakery where the fire started.

Map showing the locations of The Monument and spot where the fire began

When it was erected the granite column with golden flame on top would have been quite an arresting sight and much taller than the buildings surrounding it.

‘The Monument from Gracechurch Street’ by Canaletto 1750

Today however The Monument is dwarfed by the surrounding office buildings like the one I wrote about when we visited the Sky Garden.

Looking down on The Monument from the Sky Garden in the ‘Walkie-Talkie’

The monument was designed by Robert Hooke and Christopher Wren. The base has a sculpture by Caius Gabriel Cibber which represents the King affording protection to the desolate city and freedom to it’s rebuilders and inhabitants.

Sculpture by Caius Gabriel Cibber on west panel of The Monument

The remaining panels have Latin inscriptions, the north records the destruction of the city, the south the rebuilding of the city and the east the years and mayoralties in which erection of the monument took place.

North Panel inscription: In the year of Christ 1666, on the 2nd September, at a distance eastward from this place of 202 feet, which is the height of this column, a fire broke out in the dead of night, which, the wind blowing devoured even distant buildings, and rushed devastating through every quarter with astonishing swiftness and noise. It consumed 89 churches, gates, the Guildhall, ‘public edifices, hospitals, schools, libraries, a great number of blocks of buildings, 13,200 houses, 400 streets. Of the 26 wards, it utterly destroyed 15, and left 8 mutilated and half-burnt. The ashes of the City, covering as many as 436 acres, extended on one side from the Tower along the bank of the Thames to the church of the Templars, on the other side from the north-east along the walls to the head of Fleet-ditch. Merciless to the wealth and estates of the citizens, it was harmless to their lives, so as throughout to remind us of the final destruction of the world by fire. The havoc was swift. A little space of time saw the same city most prosperous and no longer in being. On the third day, when it had now altogether vanquished all human counsel and resource, at the bidding, as we may well believe of heaven, the fatal fire stayed its course and everywhere died out.

South Panel inscription: Charles the Second, son of Charles the Martyr, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, a most gracious prince, commiserating the deplorable state of things, whilst the ruins were yet smoking provided for the comfort of his citizens, and the ornament of his city; remitted their taxes, and referred the petitions of the magistrates and inhabitants of London to the Parliament; who immediately passed an Act, that public works should be restored to greater beauty, with public money, to be raised by an imposition on coals; that churches, and the cathedral of St. Paul’s, should be rebuilt from their foundations, with all magnificence; that the bridges, gates, and prisons should be new made, the sewers cleansed, the streets made straight and regular, such as were steep levelled and those too narrow made wider, markets and shambles removed to separate places. They also enacted, that every house should be built with party-walls, and all raised of an equal height in front, and that all house walls should be strengthened with stone or brick; and that no man should delay building beyond the space of seven years. Furthermore, he procured an Act to settle beforehand the suits which should arise respecting boundaries, he also established an annual service of intercession, and caused this column to be erected as a perpetual memorial to posterity. Haste is seen everywhere, London rises again, whether with greater speed or greater magnificence is doubtful, three short years complete that which was considered the work of an age.

East Panel inscription: This pillar was begun, Sir Richard Ford, knt., being Lord Mayor of London, in the year 1671; carried higher in the Mayoralties of Sir George Waterman, knt., Sir Robert Hanson, knt., Sir William Hooker, knt., Sir Robert Viner, knt., and Sir Joseph Sheldon, knt.; and finished in the Mayoralty of Sir Thomas Davies, in the year of the Lord 1677.

At the top of the monument sits a golden urn of flames.

The Urn of Fire

Several designs for the top were considered by Wren including a phoenix and a statue of King Charles II but the gleaming gold looks magnificent even on a dull day.

The Monument

I know what you are thinking dear reader, is that a doorway at the base? Can you go inside? Can you climb to the top? Well the answer is Yes to all three questions…

Entrance sign for the Monument

I have written before how neither Lee nor I like heights and Lee absolutely hates spiral staircases well…

Staircase inside The Monument

Start counting… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8… Lee is looking unhappy already…

The view back down the stairs

311 steps later we step outside with legs like jelly, clinging to the handrail Lee looks mightily relieved. The view from the top is obstructed by the the surrounding buildings but it is still impressive.

The caged viewing platform looking towards St Paul’s Cathedral

The viewing platform was originally just had a fence surrounding it but following several accidents where people fell to their death and six suicides a cage was added to the platform.

St Paul’s Cathedral

The mesh of the cage does get in the way of the view and there are higher vantage points but the views are still breathtaking…

The ‘Cheese grater’, ‘Gherkin’ and ‘Walkie-Talkie’

Or maybe it was climbing all those stairs that took my breath away…

Tower Bridge, City Hall and HMS Belfast

Talking of which we need to get Lee back down the stairs to the ground, and he hates going down spiral staircases even more than going up! Wish us luck! If we survive, I will tell you a bit more about the how the Great Fire of London is remembered soon…

Back on terra firma, The Monument

Спасибо за прочтение. Продолжение следует…

Thanks for reading. To be continued…

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