Places to visit

There are sites across London that help tell the story of the Great Fire and the rebuilding of London. Many of these sites offer school visits and programmes about the Great Fire.


Museum of London School visits to the Museum can support and inspire learning across the curriculum, through both self-directed visits and sessions. The popular exhibition, London’s Burning, was designed with Key Stage 1 in mind and offers a fascinating experience that brings the story of the Great Fire and the rebuilding that followed to life! Taught sessions are also available that explore the Great Fire through role-play, object handling, storytelling and puppetry. If schools are unable to come to the Museum, a Fire of London video conference is also available throughout the year. The Museum of London is close to St. Paul’s Cathedral and a visit to the London’s Burning exhibition can be easily combined with the Cathedral’s Great Fire sessions. For information about the exhibition and schools’ sessions, visit the London's Burning exhibition website (external link). The National Archives We offer free onsite workshops that fit the requirements of the National Curriculum for history, citizenship and literacy. These enable students of all ages and abilities to enjoy the challenge of working with original historical sources. For information about our Key Stage 1 Great Fire of London workshop and the rest of our programme of workshops and video conferences, please visit the website. Our schools' website is: http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/ (external link). Here you will find online exhibitions, lessons and resources for Key Stages 1-5 supporting the National Curriculum in history. This includes an online lesson (external link) on the Great Fire of London. St. Paul’s Cathedral St. Paul’s offers a schools’ session about the Great Fire of London, including a guided tour of the Crypt, Cathedral floor and Triforium. This tour shows pupils a model of Old St Paul's, artefacts that survived the Great Fire in 1666, Wren's tomb and the fabulous Great Model designed by him to show one of his plans for rebuilding the Cathedral. To find out more visit the St. Paul's Cathedral website (external link).		National Portrait Gallery The National Portrait Gallery offers Key Stage 1 classes free storytelling sessions that focus on Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire. These hour and a half sessions also include discussion of original portraits and practical artwork. A similar storytelling session is also available by video conference, taught by National Portrait Gallery teachers and booked directly through Global Leap (external site). Visit the National Portrait Gallery website (external site) to find out more about the sessions. The London Fire Brigade Museum The LFB Museum is experienced in providing educational sessions for Key Stage 1 children on the subject of the Great Fire. Our programme includes a guided session on the Great Fire, a visit to our museum appliance bay to see several historic fire engines, opportunities to try on firefighters’ uniforms, and a discussion about fire safety in the home and how children can keep themselves safe from fire. In partnership with the Museum of London, we also offer storytelling sessions for Key Stage 1 children, on the Great Fire. These interactive sessions with a professional actor last around 35 minutes, and children are then given the opportunity to see the museum’s historic fire engines and try on firefighter’s uniforms. For more information call us on 0208 555 1200 extension 39894 or see The London Fire Brigade website (external link). London Metropolitan Archives London Metropolitan Archives provides regular sessions on the lives and times of real Stuart Londoners using original documents, maps and images. There are stimulating practical activities, which include writing with a quill, making herb bags against the plague and drama. The Fire of London session gives a vivid idea of life in the City, what happened during the Fire and how London was rebuilt. Please contact the Interpretation Team on 020 7332 3851 or email ask.lma@cityoflondon.gov.uk (external link) to arrange your visit.

Created by the Museum of London, in partnership with The National Archives, London Fire Brigade Museum, National Portrait Gallery and London Metropolitan Archives.