Time Travellers to 1666: Our Great Fire of London Workshop!

Maple Class had an absolutely unforgettable day as we were transported back in time to the bustling, timber-framed streets of 1666 London!

A huge thank you to our special historical visitor who turned our school hall into a chaotic, exciting snapshot of the past for our immersive Great Fire of London workshop!

The children became incredible time travellers, leaving the 21st century behind to take on vital roles in the city just as the disaster began. We saw amazing characterisation and learned so much about the trades of the era!

• The Baker: Starting in Pudding Lane, we met the baker (not Thomas Farriner, thankfully!) preparing their daily bread.
• The Greengrocers & Fishmongers: Our market traders learned the importance of their wares and how life was conducted along the busy, narrow streets.
• The Warehouse Workers: We explored the dangers of keeping flammable goods like oil and pitch in the closely packed riverside warehouses.

The drama intensified as we acted out the moment the fire began to spread. The children discovered the key reasons why the blaze was so unstoppable:

• Wooden Houses: The tightly packed, tinder-dry wooden houses made the fire leap easily from one building to the next.
• No Fire Brigade: Fighting the fire was down to ordinary citizens using leather buckets, axes, and water squirts—which, as we acted out, were not very effective!

The climax of the workshop saw the children transform into the actual flames of the fire, using movement and sound to show how quickly and violently the blaze consumed the city. It was a powerful and memorable way to understand the scale of the destruction.

The children loved the experience and were brilliant at using their roles to absorb key facts that link directly into our topic work. They now have a real, physical memory of:

• How close the buildings were.
• What people like diarist Samuel Pepys witnessed.
• The chaos of people trying to save their belongings and flee to safety.

What a day of historical immersion! The children returned to the present day full of new knowledge and a deeper understanding of this pivotal event in London's history. Well done, Maple Class time travellers!