Early fires of London
In common with all old cities, London has experienced numerous serious fires in the course of its history.
The earliest fire of which there is definitive evidence occurred in 60 AD, during the revolt led by Queen Boudica, whose forces burned the town then known as Londinium to the ground. This fire was so destructive that archaeologists still use the clearly defined layer of ash deposited by the flames to date the strata below the city.
Archaeological evidence suggests that some time in the ten years following the visit of Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 122, a huge fire or possibly a series of fires destroyed a 100-acre (0.40 km2) area of the ancient city. Only a handful of the more robust Roman buildings, such as the Roman fort at Cripplegate, survived the flames and the city was largely wiped out.
Another great fire broke out in London in 675, destroying the Saxon cathedral that was built of wood. The cathedral was rebuilt in stone in the years 675-685. Fires were also reported for 798 and 982. In 989, a fire occurred "that, beginning in Aldgate, [it] burned down houses and churches all the way to Ludgate."
A major fire occurred in London in 1087, at the beginning of the reign of William Rufus. It consumed much of the Norman city. St Paul's Cathedral was the most significant building to be destroyed in this blaze, which also damaged the Palatine tower built by William the Conqueror on the banks of the River Fleet so badly that the remains had to be pulled down. Part of the stone from the tower was then used in the reconstruction of the cathedral.
Before 1666, the phrase "Great Fire of London" was generally used by Londoners to denote one of two major conflagrations in the early medieval period. The first blaze occurred on Pentecost 1135 (Sunday, May 26), and the second occurred on 10 July 1212.
The first dates to Pentecost 1135 (Sunday, May 26), and according to differing traditions started either on London Bridge or in the home of the Sheriff of London, Gilbert Becket, a mercer and father of Thomas Becket. This blaze was so severe that it destroyed most of the city between St Paul's and St Clement Danes in Westminster. The chronicler Matthew Paris records that the fire destroyed St Paul's Cathedral once again, but this was not the case. One indication of the severity of the fire can be seen in assessments of Gilbert Becket's wealth, based largely on his London property, which declined sharply in its aftermath.
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