The Great Fire of London IELTS Reading: Vocabulary & Detailed Answers

The Great Fire of London in 1666 stands as one of the most devastating yet pivotal milestones in English history. The reading passage “The Great Fire of London” not only chronicles the events of this disaster but also offers insights into urban planning and the birth of modern firefighting services.

Featuring Matching Headings, Multiple Choice (Choose Multiple), and Sentence Completion tasks, this is a comprehensive study resource designed to help you sharpen your academic reading skills. Join the ECE language center as we break down each paragraph and uncover the strategies needed to tackle these questions!

Reading Passage and Questions

The Great Fire of London

Paragraph A

The Great Fire of London swept through London in September 1666, devastating many buildings, including 13,200 houses and 87 parish churches. The Royal Exchange, the Guildhall and St. Paul’s Cathedral, all built during the Middle Ages, were also all totally destroyed. Although the verified death toll was only six people, it is unknown how many people died in the Great Fire of London, because many more died through indirect causes. The financial losses caused by the fire were estimated to be £10 million, at a time when London’s annual income was only £12,000. Many people were financially ruined and debtors’ prisons became over-crowded.

Paragraph B

The Great Fire of London started on Sunday, 2 September 1666 in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane, belonging to Thomas Farynor. Although he claimed to have extinguished the fire, three hours later, at 1 a.m., his house was a blazing inferno. It is not certain how the fire actually began, but it is likely that it may have been caused by a spark from Farynor’s oven falling onto a pile of fuel nearby. In 1979, archaeologists excavated the remains of a burnt out shop on Pudding Lane that was very close to the bakery where the fire started. In the cellar, they found the charred remnants of 20 barrels of pitch. Pitch burns very easily and would have helped to spread the fire.

Paragraph C

The fire spread quickly down Pudding Lane and carried on down Fish Hill and towards the Thames. The fire continued to spread rapidly, helped by a strong wind from the east. When it reached the Thames, it hit warehouses that were stocked with combustible products, such as oil and rope. Fortunately, the fire could not spread south of the river, because a previous blaze in 1633 had already wrecked a section of London Bridge. As the fire was spreading so quickly, most Londoners concentrated on escaping rather than fighting the fire.

Paragraph D

In the 17th century, people were not as aware of the dangers of fire as they are today. Buildings were made of timber covered in pitch and tightly packed together. The design of buildings meant flames could easily spread from building to building. Following a long, dry summer, the city was suffering a drought; water was scarce and the wooden houses had dried out, making them easier to burn.

Paragraph E

Samuel Pepys, a diarist of the period and Clerk to the Royal Navy, observed the fire and recommended to the King that buildings should be pulled down, as it could be the only way to stop the fire. The Mayor made the order to pull down burning houses using fire hooks, but the fire continued to spread. Pepys then spoke to the Admiral of the Navy and they agreed that they should blow up houses in the path of the fire. The hope was that by doing this, they would create a space to stop the fire spreading from house to house. The Navy carried out the request and by the next morning, the fire has been successfully stopped.

Paragraph F

London had to be almost totally reconstructed and many people went to the fields outside London. They stayed there for many days, sheltering in tents and shacks and some people were forced to live in this way for months and even years. Throughout 1667, people cleared rubble and surveyed the burnt area. Much time was spent planning new street layouts and drawing up new building regulations. Public buildings were paid for with money from a new coal tax, but by the end of the year only 150 new houses had been built. The new regulations were designed to prevent such a disaster happening again. Houses now had to be faced in brick instead of wood. Some streets were widened and two new streets were created. Pavements and new sewers were laid, and London’s quaysides were improved. Initially, however, only temporary buildings were erected that were ill-equipped, and this enabled the plague, which was common in London at that time, to spread easily. Many people died from this and the harsh winter that followed the fire.

Paragraph G

In 1666, there was no organised fire brigade. Fire fighting was very basic with little skill or knowledge involved. Leather buckets, axes and water squirts were used to fight the fire, but they had little effect. As a result of the Great Fire of London, early fire brigades were formed by insurance companies. Building insurance was very profitable and many more insurance companies were set up, establishing their own fire brigades. These brigades were sent to insured properties if a fire occurred to minimise damage and cost. Firemarks were used to identify – and advertise – different insurance companies. They were placed on the outside of an insured building and brigades would use them to determine whether a building was insured by them. If a building was on fire, several brigades would attend. If they did not see their specific firemark attached to the building, they would leave the property to burn. Some old firemarks can still be seen on London buildings today. Also, fire fighters wore brightly coloured uniforms to distinguish themselves from rival insurance brigades. Although this was a step in the right direction, fire fighters received little training and the equipment used remained very basic.

Passage Summary and Explanation

To master this reading, understanding the historical context is essential:

• Paragraph A: The Great Fire swept through London in September 1666, destroying 13,200 houses and 87 churches. While the official death toll was only six, many more died indirectly. Financial losses reached £10 million, while the city’s annual income was only £12,000, driving many into debt and prison.

• Paragraph B: The fire began on a Sunday at Thomas Farynor’s bakery on Pudding Lane. It was likely caused by a spark from an oven landing on fuel, exacerbated by 20 barrels of highly flammable pitch stored nearby.

• Paragraph C: The fire spread rapidly toward Fish Hill and the Thames, fueled by strong easterly winds. Upon reaching the river, it ignited warehouses stocked with oil and rope. Fortunately, it did not cross to the south bank because a section of London Bridge had been destroyed in a previous fire.

• Paragraph D: In the 17th century, buildings were constructed of timber, coated in pitch, and packed tightly together. Combined with a long, dry summer that caused water shortages, the wooden houses were highly vulnerable to fire.

• Paragraph E: To halt the fire, the Royal Navy decided to blow up houses in the fire’s path to create a firebreak. By the following morning, the blaze was successfully contained.

• Paragraph F: London required total reconstruction. Residents lived in tents and shacks for years. New building regulations were introduced: houses had to be faced with brick instead of wood, and streets were widened. However, the temporary housing conditions allowed the plague to spread rapidly.

• Paragraph G: The aftermath led to the creation of organized fire brigades by insurance companies (A Positive from the Ashes). Firefighters wore brightly coloured uniforms to distinguish between rival companies, and they only fought fires at properties displaying their specific insurance “firemarks.”

Key Vocabulary Summary

Answers & Detailed Explanations

• 1. Paragraph A – ix (The Costs)

Explanation: Paragraph A focuses on the damage costs, ranging from the number of destroyed buildings and the death toll to the estimated £10 million in financial losses.

• 2. Paragraph B – iii (How it Started)

Explanation: Paragraph B clearly outlines how the fire began (“started on Sunday… in a baker’s shop”) and the cause involving a spark falling onto fuel.

• 3. Paragraph C – vi (The Movement of the Fire)

Explanation: Paragraph C describes the path the fire took (“spread quickly down Pudding Lane and carried on down Fish Hill and towards the Thames”).

• 4. Paragraph D – i (Vulnerable Buildings)

Explanation: This paragraph analyzes the weakness and vulnerability of 17th-century buildings: made of timber, coated in pitch, packed together, and dried out by drought (“Buildings were made of timber… tightly packed together”).

• 5. Paragraph E – viii (Extinguishing the Fire)

Explanation: Paragraph E recounts the efforts to extinguish the fire by destroying and blowing up houses to block the fire’s path (“stop the fire spreading”).

• 6. Paragraph F – x (A New London)

Explanation: Paragraph F discusses the reconstruction of the city (“totally reconstructed”), including new planning, new streets, and new building regulations (brick houses).

• 7. Paragraph G – iv (A Positive from the Ashes)

Explanation: “From the ashes, something positive emerged.” Paragraph G describes the positive outcome of the fire: the formation of the first organized firefighting services (“early fire brigades were formed”).

Task: Choose FOUR letters (Questions 8 – 11)

Find 4 impacts/consequences of the Great Fire. Answers can be in any order.

• Correct Answers: A, C, E, G

A – Officially, only six people died: Paragraph A confirms this as a factual result (“the verified death toll was only six people”).

C – Some people had to live rough in fields for years…: Paragraph F confirms that people had to live in tents in fields for years (“some people were forced to live in this way for months and even years”).

E – Disease spread more easily: Paragraph F mentions that temporary housing conditions allowed the plague to spread easily (“enabled the plague… to spread easily”).

G – Fire fighting services were launched: Paragraph G confirms that firefighting services were launched by insurance companies (“early fire brigades were formed”).

Task: Sentence Completion (Questions 12 – 13)

• 12. brick

Question: One measure to prevent further fires was to ensure that London houses would have [………….] facades in the future.

Explanation: Paragraph F states that new laws required houses to be faced with brick instead of wood: “Houses now had to be faced in brick instead of wood.”. The word to fill in is “brick”.

• 13. (brightly) coloured uniforms

Question: People could differentiate the fire brigades from different insurance companies by their [………….].

Explanation: Paragraph G describes firefighters wearing brightly coloured uniforms to distinguish themselves from other brigades: “…fire fighters wore brightly coloured uniforms to distinguish themselves from rival insurance brigades.”.

By walking through the ashes of “The Great Fire of London,” we have not only gained a valuable vocabulary bank related to history and architecture but also a better understanding of how IELTS reading tests can set traps. The key to conquering long reading passages is the ability to identify synonyms and grasp the main idea of each paragraph rather than getting bogged down in translating every word. Save the vocabulary table in this article and try solving the Matching Headings questions yourself to turn this skill into a natural reflex. Good luck!