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Funded and Managed by
City of London Corporation

Great Fire of London learning session

Key Stage 1

What was it like to live through the most destructive blaze the City has ever seen?

Help to bring the Great Fire of London to life for your KS1 students in our exciting session, using original archival material from 1666! Through dynamic group work and storytelling, students will study a significant event beyond living memory.

In this session, students will be encouraged to find out what it was like to be a Londoner during the Great Fire of London in 1666 by becoming history detectives. Through an investigation of original archival material, including plans, maps, letters, lists, eye-witness statements and official proclamations, they will solve puzzles and challenges to try to answer that question.

This session is particularly suitable for teachers who have already introduced their class to the basic events of the Great Fire and wish to cement and extend that knowledge, by developing skills in evidential understanding and sparking curiosity about how we know about events in the past.

Curriculum links

  • Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality

Questions about the session? Get in touch via email at tla.schools@cityoflondon.gov.uk