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Great Fire of London Experience
04 October 2024
Year 2 pupils from both Edgbaston High School and West House School went back in time to 1666 as they are currently learning about The Great Fire of London in their History lessons. They all fully immersed themselves in life in 17th century London for the day, dressing the part and thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The morning was spent visiting a wide variety of different workshops led by parent volunteers. Each workshop focussed on a different skill that was part of daily life in 1666 in our capital city. Pupils had the opportunity to make bread and candles using traditional methods. They tried their hand at weaving and writing with feather quills. They practised their sewing skills to create monogrammed handkerchiefs and ground dried flowers to create medicines at the Apothecary. Some pupils even became rat-catchers or collected the dead bodies of Londoners who had died from the plague.
The pupils also learned how the fire spread and why it spread so quickly. They posed as houses to understand how the design of the houses helped the fire to spread then observed how destroying houses created a firebreak. The boys and girls worked together to demonstrate how the fire was put out using people lines to pass leather buckets of water from the River Thames to the burning houses.
During the afternoon, the pupils tool part in an historical excavation session. They sifted through the ashes of the fire and found items such as shells, candle hooks, tools and damaged ceramic pots. They used these clues to decide which shop the ashes had come from and whether it burned down or was pulled down as part of a fire break.
Great Fire of London Experience
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