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Discover London Through History
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Food

Steeped in history: Tea drinking in Britain

From Chinese origins to becoming the UK’s national beverage, the history of tea is deeply entwined with colonial histories of sugar and the East India Company.

Hidden London

Medieval pilgrim shell tokens and St James’ Way

Explore London’s medieval scallop shell relics, symbolising the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage’s lasting enchantment across centuries.

Fashion

Queen Victoria's chatelaine bags

These chatelaine bags, presumably belonging to Queen Victoria, are testimony to Medieval practicality and the skills of Jewish silversmiths.

Behind the Scenes

Rare books: What makes them special and how to care for them

What makes a book rare? Tips on identifying special books, storage and safe handling techniques to preserve these literary artefacts.
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Great Fire of London live stream: Part 1 - Watch again

Catch up on our popular Great Fire of London live stream after the event! Part 1 explores how the fire started and why it got so bad.

Watch the stream recording

Did you miss the live stream the first time around? Or just want to watch it again? Not to worry!

Here's the full recording, which is 28 minutes and 34 seconds long:

You can find a full transcript of the stream right here.

Take this week's challenge

It doesn't end there! We have one last thing for you: a challenge to do about what we’ve learned.

Your challenge this time is:

Tell the story - by drawing

Do you remember the reasons why the fire got so bad? Draw an image of each one you can think of.

They could be simple symbols or whole scenes. Can you draw more than three?

Show your finished pictures to your family or classmates and see if you all drew the same things.

An illustration of two people trying to put out the fire on a burning 17th-century house with a water squirt.

Proud of your drawings? Why not share them with us on Facebook! Or email us at [email protected]

Just remember to think carefully about what you share on social media. We take no responsibility for what's shared with us, but we encourage you to be sensitive to others, just to share work that you created yourself, and not to share any personal information or photos of children.

Tell us your thoughts

We'd love to hear what you thought of the live stream!

Keen to let us know? Answer a few quick questions right here.

Join us for Parts 2 and 3

Enjoyed this? Then don't forget to join us for the other two parts of the series! Here are the details:

Meriel and Nina pretend to use a fire hook next to a large replica and illustration of the fire.

The Great Fire of London Live Stream Part 2

Explore how people reacted and the equipment used to put the fire out.

Meriel and Nina discuss the rebuilding of London above a large wooden diorama of the city.

The Great Fire of London Live Stream Part 3

Discover how the city was rebuilt and the fire changed London.

Find out more

We've got loads more great resources about the Great Fire of London for you to enjoy:

Oil on canvas. This painting derives from an original by Jan Griffier the Elder (c. 1645/52-1718), it is not dated or signed. The Great Fire of London started in a baker's shop in Pudding Lane in the early hours of of Sunday 2 September 1666 and raged for the next four days destroying four-fiths of the city walls. This painting depicts the cataclysmic scale of the disaster.

Everything in one place

Simply want to see everything we've got on the fire, from articles and guides to digital games? Look no further than this page.

Play our popular game and fight the Great Fire! In bite-size chapters, this is a great classroom activity on whiteboard or tablet or a fun homework task.

Great Fire of London game

Help Tom fight the Great Fire in this interactive game, broken into handy bite-size chapters.