A new vision for the city

The fire broke out during a time of great upheaval in Britain, with old certainties shaken by the English Civil War.

A new intellectual elite was emerging, made up of men keen to share ideas and scientific discoveries. They believed London’s medieval structure with timber fronted buildings, network of alleyways and open sewers no longer reflected the ideals of the age. The fire provided a rare chance to create a modern capital.

Steeped in mathematical knowledge and the writings of the ancients, like Roman architect Vitruvius, they imagined a spacious, well planned city to rival the splendour of ancient Rome.

Men of science

With the embers still burning, London's intellectuals finalised their plans for the city. The most famous of these came from Royal Society members John Evelyn, Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke.

Hooke designed a regimented grid-iron plan, inspired by the cities of the ancient world, while Evelyn and Wren imagined a city of piazzas, with St Paul’s Cathedral and the Royal Exchange at its heart.