Text only
This page includes the script for the Great Fire of London game. If you would like to print a copy of this page please download the following PDF version of text only script (PDF 68kb).
1. Introduction
London before the Great Fire
Scene: London at night
Narrator: This is London and the year is 1666 – do you know what is about to happen? After a long, dry summer a great fire is going to break out that will change London forever. You will meet two people and see what it was like to live through that Great Fire. Along the way, you’ll have to help them as the fire spreads across London. Let’s get started . . .
CLICK NEXT ARROW
SUNDAY
2. Meet Tom Porter
Illustrations:
Pudding Lane (at night)
Tom in bed
Narrator: “This is Tom Porter. He is eight years old and lives on Pudding Lane with his father, who is a builder. Sadly, his mother and brothers died of the plague, like so many other people did last year.”
Sound of loud bells
Tom: “Church bells ringing at night? Something must be wrong! I smell burning – it must be a fire! I need to find father so we can get buckets to help our neighbours!”
CLICK NEXT ARROW
3. Meet Samuel Pepys and his maid Jane
Illustrations:
Seething Lane (at night)
Pepy, Jane, Elizabeth at window
Narrator: “This is Jane Birch. She works as a maid in the house of Samuel Pepys on Seething Lane. Here she is with Samuel Pepys and his wife, Elizabeth. He keeps a diary that he writes in every day.
Pepys' diary highlights
Narrator: “This diary tells us about the Great Fire, but what other sources do we have to tell us about that time? We’ve just met Tom and Jane. How do you think we know where people lived in 1666?”
Pepys' diary 1:
At three o’clock Sunday morning Jane called me to the window to see the fire. It looked a long way off so I went back to bed.
CLICK NEXT ARROW
4. How do we know where people lived in 1666?
POP UP WINDOW
Narrator: “How do we know where people lived in 1666? Which of these items help us know?”
“Hearth Tax document”
“Samuel Pepys’ diary”
“Picture of wooden houses”
“Fire bucket”
“Drag an item to the tick, if you think it helps us know.”
“Drag an item to the cross, if you think it does not.”
On rollover:
1. [Hearth Tax] This document from 1666 tells us where people lived and how many fireplaces they had. This part shows us who lived on the street where the Great Fire started!
If dragged correctly item stays on tick:
Narrator: “Well done! This does help us know where people lived in 1666.” (plus explanation of item)
Narrator: “Now try another item.”
If dragged incorrectly item: ERROR NOISE
Item animates over to tick
Narrator: “This does help us know where people lived in 1666.”
2. [Pepys’ diary] This is the diary written by Samuel Pepys, who wrote about his life, his friends and his work. He also wrote about what happened in the Great Fire of London.
3. [Image of wooden houses] This shows us the kind of houses that people lived in before the Fire.
Wrong answer:
1. [Bucket] This would have been an important object during the Fire, but it does not tell us where people lived.
If dragged correctly item stays on cross:
Narrator: “Well done - this does not help us know where people lived in 1666.” (+explanation of the bucket)
If dragged incorrectly item: ERROR NOISE
Item animates over to cross
Narrator: “This does not help us know where people lived in 1666.”
When all items have been explored:
CLICK ARROW
5. Help Tom get fire equipment ready
Illustrations:
Pudding Lane
Tom
Cart
Items on cart:
Bucket
Squirt
Hook
Items to be thrown off cart:
Fire engine
Modern fire-fighting helmet
Torch
Tom: “We need your help! What do we need to fight the fire? Help put it onto the cart.”
Fire-fighting tools game:
Narrator: “Remember, Tom can only use fire fighting equipment from 1666.”
Narrator (prompt if required) “Drag items into the cart”
CORRECT INCORRECT
Leather bucket Fire engine
Squirt Plastic fire-fighting helmet
Fire hook Torch
If child drags correct item it goes onto the cart and becomes an illustration:
Tom: “Great!” or “That’s right”
If child drags incorrect item:
Narrator: “Tom can’t use that. It’s not from 1666”
Item is tossed off cart and does not become an illustration
When all three correct items are on the cart:
Narrator: “Well done – now we are ready. But have you noticed where we are? This is Pudding Lane, where people say that the Great Fire started in a bakery, but how do we know this is true?"
Pepys' diary 2:
At seven o’clock, my maid, Jane came and told me that 300 houses had been burnt down tonight.
CLICK ARROW
6. How do we know where the great fire started?
Narrator: “How do we know where the Great Fire started? Which of these items help us know?”
The London Gazette newspaper
Samuel Pepys’ diary
Map of burnt London
Portrait of King Charles II”
Right answers:
1. [The London Gazette] This is a newspaper from 1666 called the London Gazette and it tells us where the Great Fire started.
2. [Pepys’ diary] In his diary, Samuel Pepys wrote down where the Fire started.
Wrong answers:
1. [Map] This map shows us how much of London was destroyed by the Great Fire, but it does not tell us where it started.
2. [Portrait of King Charles] Portraits show us what people looked liked. This is a portrait of King Charles II – he was very important during the Great Fire, but his picture does not tell us what happened.
“This does help us know where the Great Fire started”
“This does not help us know where the Great Fire started”
When all objects have been explored:
Narrator: “Great job, now let’s see what’s happening to Tom. . .”
CLICK ARROW
7. Help Tom fight the fire with buckets
Illustrations:
A London street
A row of houses
Fire
Bucket (as before)
Water splash
Tom: “This is really scary! The buildings are so close together – the fire is spreading so fast no one can stop it! People are beginning to run to the river to escape.”
Father: “We’ve got to do something to try to stop the fire.”
Tom: “Pick up a bucket and help us stop the fire spreading to the end of the street”
Fire-fighting (I) game:
Narrator: “Move the bucket to where you want to throw the water”
Child clicks the bucket and moves it over the house.
Click again and it animates water onto the house.
If they hit the burning house the fire is quelled for a few seconds but quickly starts up again and spreads along to the next house.
The child carries on clicking buckets of water onto the house but the fire spreads along the street.
Tom (occasionally): Oh no the fire is still spreading, try again!”
and “Help us stop the fire spreading to the end of the street”
Eventually the whole street is on fire:
Narrator: “You tried hard, but buckets of water alone cannot put this fire out!”
Father: “Come, Tom, there is nothing more we can do. Everyone is going to the river side to escape the fire.”
Narrator: “Everyone must have felt as scared as Tom. How do we know what happened to people during the fire?”
CLICK ARROW
8. How do we know what happened to people during the Fire?
Narrator: “How do we know what happened to people during the Fire? Which of these items help us know?”
Illustrations:
Painting showing the Great Fire
An eyewitness report
Book about the Great Fire by Thomas Vincent
The London Gazette newspaper”
Right answers
1. [Fire painting] This painting shows us that people went to the Thames to try to escape.
2. [Witness statement] After the Great Fire, people wrote down what happened to them. In this account a person says how they rushed to the attic to see the city on fire. Balls of fire came into the attic as the fire spread!
3. [Vincent book] Many people wrote books after the Great Fire which tell us what people did.
4. [The London Gazette] This newspaper describes how people reacted and what they did to help fight the Fire.
“This does help us know what happened to people during the Fire?”
“This does not help us know what happened to people during the Fire?”
When all objects have been explored:
Narrator: “Great job, now let’s see what’s happening to Tom.”
CLICK ARROW
9. Tom escaping at the river
Illustrations:
Rivers edge (Tower in background)
People escaping in boats
Tom and dad at river edge.
Pepys is also there.
Tom: “But Father, it is so busy and it looks like all the boats are full! What are we going to do?”
Father: “We will have to walk, like so many others are – you can see them escaping in all directions. Look at how the fire still burns! Why is nothing more being done?”
Narrator: “Samuel Pepys is off to tell the King that not enough is being done."
Pepys: “I am going to Whitehall Palace to warn King Charles that hardly anyone is fighting the fire!”
Narrator: "How do we know what people did to try to stop the fire spreading?”
Pepys' diary 3:
I told the King what I saw, and that unless his Majesty did command houses to be pulled down nothing could stop the fire.
CLICK ARROW
10. How do we know how people tried to stop the Fire?
Narrator: “How do we know how people tried to stop the Fire? Which of these items help us know?”
Illustrations:
“Picture of fire-fighting from the 1600s
Samuel Pepys’ diary
Bucket from 1666
Portrait of King Charles II”
Right answers:
1. [Tiverton Fire picture] This image shows us how people used fire hooks to pull down buildings to stop the Fire spreading.
2. [Pepys’ diary] Samuel Pepys wrote down how he went to King Charles to tell him about the Fire: “I did tell the King that unless his Majesty did command houses to be pulled down nothing could stop the fire.”
3. [1666 Bucket] This bucket was found buried on Pudding Lane long after the Fire. It was probably used to fight the fire and dropped by accident.
Wrong answer:
1. [Portrait of King Charles] King Charles II helped to fight the Fire, but his picture does not show us what he did.
“This does help us know how people tried to stop the Fire”
“This does not help us know how people tried to stop the Fire”
When all objects have been explored:
Narrator: “Great job”
“Good job”
“Excellent”
“Now let’s see what’s happening to Jane. . .”
CLICK DONE/OK BUTTON
MONDAY
11. Help Jane pack the cart
Scene: Outside Seething Lane
Illustrations:
Jane
Cart
Items on cart:
- a bed
- a table
- Bible box
- frying pan
- candle stick
- wine bottle
- virginal
Jane: “Mistress Pepys says we have to pack our things onto the cart. We must move the most important things to safety, but what should we take?”
Pack the Cart game:
Narrator: “Help Jane choose what to take by dragging items onto the cart.”
- a bed
- a table
- Bible box
- frying pan
- candle stick
- wine bottle
- virginal
Child drags item (from real image) onto cart and it becomes illustration and goes in.
Jane: “Good choice”
Once five items are dragged:
Jane: “Thanks for your help, that’s all we can fit on.”
Pepys off scene: “Jane…”
Jane: “Master Pepys is calling me…”
Pepys' diary 4:
About four o’clock in the morning my friend sent me a cart to carry away all my money and best things.
CLICK ARROW
12. Help the schoolboys fight the Fire with hooks
Scene: A London street
Illustrations:
Hooks 3 states of broken down building
Fire
Jane: “Now Master Pepys needs this important letter taken to a friend. The fire is still burning! I even saw a teacher and his schoolboys fighting the fire. If you are quick you can help them!”
Fire-fighting (II) game:
Narrator: “Grab a firehook and help the boys! Hook it to the timbers. Pulling down houses in the Fire’s path might stop it from spreading!”
Narrator prompt: “Move the hook to the building you want to pull down.”
Child clicks the hook and moves it over the houses.
Clicking causes the house to break down, three clicks and it is gone completely.
If they make a break the fire is held back momentarily.
Then it will jump and spread along the street.
Narrator prompt: “Pull down the buildings with the hook.”
“Pull again!”
Jane occasionally: “Oh no the fire is still spreading, try again!”
The fire spreads through the rubble, eventually the whole street is on fire.
Narrator: “Pulling down buildings with fire hooks made gaps but the fire is still spreading because of the strong wind.”
CLICK ARROW
13. Samuel Pepys and Jane in Seething Lane garden
Illustrations:
Seething Lane garden
Pepys
Jane
Cheese and wine
Spade
Hole
Dirt
Pepys: “Jane, do you see that the great cathedral of St. Paul is on fire?”
Jane: “Thankfully we have already sent our most important goods away to safety.”
Pepys: “But not everything is safe! Our neighbour has buried some of his things in the garden. Perhaps we should do the same and bury my finest cheese and wine.”
Animation of cheese and wine being buried
Pepys' diary 5:
In the evening I dug a hole in my garden and put my wine and best cheese in it.
CLICK ARROW
TUESDAY
14/15. Help Tom fight the Fire with gunpowder
Scene: Near the Tower of London
Illustrations:
Gunpowder
Explosions
Rubble
Tom: “There are too many people and not enough safe places to go!”
Explosion
Tom: “What was that?”
Father: “It’s coming from somewhere near the Tower of London! What could they possibly be doing?”
Explosion again
Father: “Did you see? They have used gunpowder to blow up buildings! They must be trying to save the Tower.”
Fire-fighting (III) game:
Narrator: “Using gunpowder was an important way to make spaces to keep the Fire from spreading.
Can you help save the Tower?
Move the gunpowder to the buildings you think should be blown up.
Cover your ears – this will be loud!”
London street with Tower in background.
Child clicks the gunpowder and moves it to the houses.
Clicking causes the houses to blow up.
If they make a break the fire is held back, if not the fire spreads along the street.
If successful: Tom: “Great work. Try to stop the fire spreading on another street.”
2 more streets then
If successful: Tom: “Well done. You helped save the Tower.”
If they are unsuccessful at any point: Tom: “The fire spread on your street, but listen (SFX: explosions) elsewhere they have stopped it reaching the Tower.”
Tom: “The Tower will be safe now there are no burning buildings nearby!”
Father: “But elsewhere the fire is still burning”
CLICK ARROW
WEDNESDAY
16. Help Tom match objects burnt in the Fire
Scene: View from Southwark (London on fire from over the river)
Tom is safe in Southwark
Illustrations:
Tom
Dad
Images (before objects):
Window
Tile
Book
Jar
Tom: “We finally got a boat and made it across the river, but I’m so hungry and tired.”
Father: “At least we will be safe here, and we have been able to find some of our neighbours who have also left the city. So much of the city is still on fire. Look at it!”
Tom: “Do you think anything from our house has survived the fire?”
Before and after game:
Narrator: “Imagine what things might have looked like after this Great Fire. When Tom and his father went back home would they be able to recognise anything? Match these items with what they looked like after the Fire.”
Window = Melted glass
Tile = Scorched tiles
Book = Chunk of carbon
Ceramic Jar = Fragments of melted pottery
Narrator: “Match an item by dragging it onto what it looked like after the Fire”
Child drags a before item on to an after item.
If correct it stays next to it with tick
Narrator: “Well done!”
If incorrect ERROR noise and item goes back to original position:
Narrator: “Try again”
When all matched:
Narrator: “Well done. You have just seen what happened to objects in the heat of the fire, but how do we know what was destroyed?”
CLICK ARROW
17. How do we know what was destroyed in the Great Fire?
Narrator: “How do we know what was destroyed in the Great Fire? Which of these items help us know?”
Melted window glass
An eyewitness report
Painting showing St. Paul’s Cathedral on fire
Portrait of Samuel Pepys painted in March 1666
Right answers:
Melted window glass – This shows what happened to window glass in the heat of the fire.
Personal account – In this document a lady called Elizabeth Peacock says that she and her five children had not even a stool left to sit on.
St. Paul’s on fire painting – We see St. Paul’s Cathedral on fire in this painting. It had to be entirely re-built after the Fire!
Wrong answer:
Portrait of Pepys – Samuel Pepys managed to save his portrait from being burned so it is not an example of something destroyed by the Fire.
“This does help us know what was destroyed in the Great Fire”
“This does not help us know what was destroyed in the Great Fire”
When all objects have been explored
Narrator: “Great job / Excellent / Well done, now let’s see what’s happening to Jane. . .”
CLICK ARROW
THURSDAY
18. Jane returns to Seething Lane
Illustrations:
Seething Lane (day)
Jane outside
Jane: “I’m tired after making the trip to Woolwich last night, where Mistress Pepys and I slept in safety with friends. Master Pepys returned early and I hear he is trying to stop one of the last fires from spreading at this moment! What great fortune that the fire stopped at the bottom of our lane and we have a home to return to!”
Pepys' diary 6:
After hearing church bells at the end of our lane, with Elizabeth and Jane we made our way to a friend’s house in Woolwich, along with my gold.
CLICK ARROW
19. Tom finds shelter in a tent field
Illustrations:
Tent field
Tom
Dad
Tom: “When the wind stopped the fire was easier to put out. But we have nothing left, Father, what will we do?”
Father: “We will take shelter in these tents like everyone else who lost their homes.
At least the King has provided food for us and kind people from other parts of country are
sending money to help the people of London – all is not lost.”
Tom: “But Pudding Lane was destroyed. Where will we go now?
Father: “We’ll likely be here for a while, but not to worry, as a builder I am sure there will be plenty of work for me when they start to rebuild the city.”
Tom: “And I can learn to be a builder too!”
CLICK ARROW
AFTER THE FIRE
20. Help Jane build a new London
Scene: London street
Illustrations: Jane outside Pepys' house
- Wooden house
- Leaning house
- Stone house
- Brick house
Jane (in Pepys' house): “The news is very exciting! The King has great plans for re-building the city and is trying to make sure these new buildings will not burn so easily in the future. I wonder what the new city will look like?”
Narrator: “The King made new rules about how buildings should be built, for example, no more wooden buildings or houses leaning into the streets. New houses had to be made from brick or stone. How do you think a London street should look after the Great Fire?”
Build a Street game:
Child is offered a number of different types of buildings and can drag them onto a street.
Narrator: “Which sort of house would you build after the fire?”
“Drag a house onto the street”
or
“Click on a house to build a street.”
If the building matches post Fire regulations it automatically builds a row of houses.
Narrator: “Great! All buildings had to be built from brick or stone after the Fire.”
If the building does not match post Fire regulations it is thrown out:
Narrator:
“Wooden buildings were not allowed after the Fire!”
“Buildings that leaned into the street were not allowed after the Fire!”
“Try again.”
“Try adding another house.”
Narrator: “You did an excellent job – I am sure the King would be proud! You can still see some of the buildings in London today that were built after the Great Fire. How do we know about the rebuilding of London?”
CLICK ARROW
21. How do we know about the rebuilding of London?
Narrator: “How do we know about the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire? Which of these items help us know?”
Portrait of Christopher Wren
Orders from King Charles II
Picture of wooden houses
Brick from Pudding Lane”
Right answers:
1. Wren portrait – This is a portrait of Christopher Wren, who designed many buildings in London after the Great Fire. You can see plans for his most famous building, the new St. Paul’s Cathedral, on the table beside him.
2. King Charles II Proclamation – This document lists King Charles’ rules for rebuilding London. They were meant to stop a big fire happening again.
Wrong answers:
1. Picture of wooden houses – This shows us what houses looked like before the Fire.
2. Brick from Pudding Lane – This is a brick from Pudding Lane, where the Great Fire started. It shows us what survived the Fire, but not about plans for rebuilding London.
“This does help us know about the rebuilding of London”
“This does not help us know about the rebuilding of London”
CLICK ARROW
22. Design your tankard
Illustration: Tankard
Writing on tankard:
___ helped put out the Great Fire of London
____ helped re-build London after the Great Fire
___ played the Great Fire of London game
e.g. “Simon helped put out the Great Fire”.
3 scenes from story to appear on tankard
- image of street on fire from game
- image of new St. Paul’s
- image of Tom and Jane
Narrator: “King Charles gave people gifts to reward them for fighting the Fire. This is Sir Edmund Godfrey. He celebrated his reward from the King by giving his friends silver tankards, like this one, to help them remember the Great Fire.
Now you can create your own tankard to help you remember what happened in the Great Fire of London.”
Tankard appears on screen and a choice of three scenes (from story)
“Click on the picture you would like on your tankard”
Chosen picture appears on tankard
CLICK OK
Text entry box
“Type in your name” CLICK OK
Tankard appears with child’s name inserted “Simon helped put out the Great Fire”. CLICK PRINT
“Now you can print out your tankard”
Web address (www.fireoflondon.org.uk) appears on print out page
23. The End
Illustration of Tom and Jane
Tom: “Thanks for your help.”
Jane: “Thank you kindly for your help, you may play again if you wish.”