The Museum of London has opened a major exhibition about the Great Fire of London, which took place 350 years ago next month. Fire! Fire! combines a variety of sights, sounds, smells, textures and interactive exhibits to immerse visitors in the events leading up to, during and after the Great Fire of London in 1666.
The exhibition begins on an imagined Pudding Lane on the eve of the Great Fire, brought to life through theatrical timber set works inspired by 17th-century illustrations as well as silhouettes and sounds of Londoners going about their everyday lives. Entering Thomas Farriner’s bakery, visitors then witness the rapid progress of the Great Fire as it spreads across a map of London from 1666 projected on to a giant loaf of bread.
Nestled among the remains of fire damaged houses, the Museum of London’s rich Great Fire collections include a variety of scarred and warped household objects such as pottery, plates, bricks, tiles, ceramics and glass which were uncovered in excavations at the end of the 20th century. A selection of these rarely seen artefacts can be touched and more closely examined with microscopes and magnifying glasses. Further into the gallery, excavated archaeological iron objects can be analysed with X-rays, revealing some surprising details.
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One of the star objects is the museum’s fire engine from the late 1670s (pictured), faithfully restored for the exhibition by Croford Coachbuilders using traditional techniques and materials. Other pieces of firefighting equipment on display include a squirt, a leather bucket and a fire hook, which are all put to the test in a touch screen game challenging players to save a row of houses from the Great Fire. A half-finished piece of embroidery, a pair of bed hangings and a burnt Geneva Bible all reportedly escaped the full wrath of the flames and are installed alongside a trunk encouraging visitors to consider what they would rescue if faced with the same fate.
Fire! Fire! runs until 17 April 2017 and is accompanied by a programme of talks and events. For further information, please visit www.museumoflondon.org.uk/fire-fire .
Read about the history and consequences of the Great Fire in our next issue