“The 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London gives us a rare and wonderful opportunity to work on a historic event, the impact of which was felt far beyond the City of London, throughout the United Kingdom and beyond”, said Artichoke director Helen Marriage.
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A model of the 1666 City of London has been set ablaze on the Thames to commemorate the great Fire of that year that destroyed almost 80% of the capital.
The new St Paul’s Cathedral, still the centrepiece of the city, was completed 44 years after the Great Fire.
An art installation of London was set alight to represent the 350th anniversary of the city’s Great Fire of 1666.
The event was the grand finale of the London’s Burning festival, commemorating the anniversary of the Great Fire.
“It will look spectacular”, said Helen Marriage, director of creative events company Artichoke, which is staging the London’s Burning programme.
According to the London Fire Brigade, the Great Fire of London started on September 2, 1966.
The project was also designed with a major learning and participation programme that has engaged hundreds of young Londoners over the course of several months.
It paved the way for large-scale reconstruction, including the building of today’s St Paul’s Cathedral.
Following the fire, stone started being used in the capital as a building material and an organised fire service and insurance industry were established.
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Philip Parker of Royal Mail, said: “Despite the bad devastation caused by the Great Fire, it provided the opportunity for the regeneration of large swathes of the city and shaped the London we know today”. The fire was stopped days later on September 6 by blowing up houses in the fire’s path to give it space to stop. About 13,000 homes and businesses were destroyed in the calamity.
