How the Great Plague of 1665 Reshaped London 


 

You all may have heard of a little something called the plague. It’s a scary disease that plagued most of Europe throughout the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. See what I did there?

All jokes aside, in 1665, the plague returned to London for what would turn out to be the last time. This was the worst outbreak since the Black Death in 1348, and it killed up to 100,000 Londoners before it eventually disappeared.

To learn more about the Great Plague and how it reshaped London, read on!

What is the plague?

the Great Plague

A street during the Great Plague in London with a death cart by Edmund Evans – WikiCommons

Before I jump into the details of the Great Plague, I want to talk a little bit about what exactly the plague was! The Great Plague was technically an outbreak of the bubonic plague. It’s a disease that was carried over to England on rats that were likely infected in Asia. This is the same disease that rampaged England and most of Europe in the mid 14th century, otherwise known as the Black Death.

While the Great Plague of 1665 was experienced on a much smaller level than the Black Death, but it more directly affected London. I already mentioned that it killed up to 100,000 people, almost 25% of London’s population at the time. And, all of this occurred over a period of just 18 months.

Symptoms included swelling of the body, fever, vomiting and headaches. I’ve stumbled upon pictures of victims, and trust me, it’s not pretty.

Since the Black Death epidemic of 1348, plague had become a major fear for the British. There were several other outbreaks between 1348 and 1665. Notably, in 1563, thousands were dying per week in London. In 1593, over 15,000 people in England died from the plague. These numbers are staggering, and are most likely too low, due to poor public records.

Many different elements were responsible for the spread of such a disease, as conditions in England and London were less than ideal at the time.

What was London like in 1665?

Map of London

Map of London in 1665 by Wenceslas Hollar – WikiCommons

In order to better understand how the plague spread like wildfire in 1665, I think it’s important to set the historical scene.

In the winter of 1664, a large comet was seen in the sky in London. Superstitious Londoners began asking themselves what it could mean, and ultimately took it as a bad omen. Whether you believe in this sort of thing or not, in the end, the plague arrived in full force in 1665.

At the time, London was still set up like a medieval city. A large section near the port was still surrounded by a city wall, separating the slums from the nicer suburbs where the rich and noble lived.

In the slum areas of the city, hygiene was non-existent. People lived in crowded tenement housing, and sewage ran through the streets. The narrow cobblestoned streets were filled with animal and human waste and garbage. The smell was so bad, that people had to wrap handkerchiefs around their noses and mouths every time they went outside. Flies and rats ruled, and it was just a filthy environment. It’s not surprising that disease was able to flourish!

London received some of it’s goods by boat, but most arrived by road. This meant that the entrances to the city were often overcrowded with carriages, wagons and other vehicles trying to get their products into London. As you all can imagine, crowded areas were easily turned into breeding grounds for sickness.

The city was also filled with factories that made soap, beer and iron that pumped out black smoke and smog. This is yet anther element that made London almost unbearable to live in at the time.

Even though people were aware of the plague at the time, it wasn’t understood where it came from. People blamed all sorts of things for the disease: sick animals (this is the most accurate assumption as the plague was carried by rats), bizarre weather patterns and even immorality. It wasn’t until 1894 that the bacteria Yersinia pestis was credited with causing the plague.

After many years of outbreaks, there were some preventive measures put in place by the 17th century, but as you’ll see it was not enough. Suspicious ships were often put under quarantine, but the plague didn’t only travel by sea! 

The Great Plague hits London

The Great Plague

The Great Plague of 1665 – WikiCommons

It’s thought that the Great Plague arrived in London in late 1664. Scholars believe that it was transmitted by shipments of cotton coming in from Amsterdam. The plague had just hit there in 1663-1664, with a loss of 50,000!

The first places where the plague was noted as a cause of death were at the docks in London, and in the parish of St Giles in the Fields, located just beyond the city walls. Let me correct myself: it was in these places that multiple cases of death were recorded as “suspicious.” It wasn’t until the rest of London became infected that people realized it was the plague.

2 of these “suspicious” deaths were recorded in St Giles in the Fields in late 1664, and another in February of 1665. In fact, by the time April rolled around, large numbers of people were dying. In April, the number of deaths per week skyrocketed from 290 to 398. The plague had officially arrived in London. However, in spite of these numbers, only 4 out of the cases were recorded as death by plague.

Even though these deaths were not officially caused by the plague, local authorities noticed something was going on and measures began to be put in place. Houses with sick people in them were quarantined and official “pest-houses” were being opened. At the time, the plague was also referred to as the pest.

When the warmer months hit, cases of sickness increased. The king and his Privy Council ordered that people clean up their houses and areas in the streets in order to prevent the disease from running further. Unfortunately these measures didn’t really help.

Even though the disease was fairly well known at the time, many doctors and healers at the time didn’t have much experience in identifying it and treating it. This was another reason why the plague was considered to be an incurable disease. The doctors at the time just didn’t have the knowledge or resources at the time to treat it!

Londoners attempt to escape the Great Plague

The Great Plague, 1665

The Great Plague, 1665 from “Cassell’s Illustrated History of England, Volume 3” by John Cassell – WikiCommons

By July 1665, most everyone was aware that the plague had arrived in London and didn’t show signs of leaving anytime soon. The rich were lucky in that they could flee to their country homes to escape the disease, but the poor were faced with a much more sinister fate.

Checkpoints were installed at all of the entrances of the city wall, and in order to leave, Londoners had to have a certificate of good health that had been signed and approved by the Lord Mayor of the city. As you can imagine, these certificates became harder and harder to get.

Some managed to escape without the certificate, but they were consistently turned away by those living outside the city walls. If they couldn’t produce a certificate, they were thrown back out into the streets, and were many times forced to return to the city.

By the end of July, the London Bill of Mortality included 3,014 deaths, and 2,020 were because of the plague. There were so many dead to bury that graveyards became overcrowded. People would wander the city with large carts calling out “Bring out your dead.”

A death cart

A death cart in a street in London during the Great Plague of 1665 by Samuel Davenport and George Cruikshank – WikiCommons

Creepy! The authorities soon became concerned that this would cause unrest in the city and a new law was passed so that burials were required to be done at night.

Bodies began to pile up outside houses and in the streets. It sounds like a horrible time to have lived in London. At some point, officials began to blame the spread of the disease on animals, and hundreds of cats and dogs were killed to prevent the spread of the plague. Panic had officially set in in London.

Officials also thought that fire and smoke could kill the disease. Large bonfires were set up in the streets and people were required to keep their chimneys lit at all times. Famous diarist Samuel Pepys recorded the state of London at the time:

“Lord! How empty the streets are and how melancholy, so many poor sick people in the streets full of sores… in Westminster, there is never a physician and but one apothecary left, all being dead.” – Samuel Pepys

In September 1665, the death rate had risen to 7,000 per week, but even these large numbers are considered to be grossly lower than the actual death rate.

The aftermath of the Great Plague

Bill of Mortality

Bill of Morality 1665 (Great Plague of London) – WikiCommons

With the arrival of colder weather in the fall and winter of 1665, the plague slowly began to dissipate. The city of London was finally considered safe enough for King Charles II to return to visit and see the damages.

However, things didn’t really start to go back to normal until 1666. In September of that year, London experienced another tragedy: the Great Fire of London. Although the fire burned up much of the city, it is said that it also helped to rid London of the plague once and for all.

According to the London Bill of Mortality, 68,596 people had died from the plague in 1665. Again, it is also thought that this number was largely under recorded. Scholars assume that the real number is almost double that of the Bill of Mortality.

The poor were the most negatively impacted by the plague. The rich had the resources to leave the city in order to escape the disease, but the poor population did not have that luxury. But, thanks to the Great Fire, many rich merchants found their goods and ships burned and ruined.

As a result of the Great Plague and the Great Fire, the city of London was largely rebuilt. The parliament also passed the Rebuilding of London Act of 1666, which hoped to rebuilt the city. Streets were widened, pavement and sewers were installed and buildings were reconstructed using safer materials.

All in all, the rebuilding took about 10 years to complete. It may have taken awhile, but Londoners were happy and healthy afterwards. London became a desirable place to live, and many flocked there.

Conclusion

Ah, London in the 17th century. It doesn’t sound much fun, does it?! Between disease and fire, it seems like Londoners just couldn’t catch a break.

Thankfully, measures were put in place to improve the lives of those living in the country’s capital. London was now the place to be in England!

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning more about how the Great Plague of 1665 reshaped London! If you’d like to discover more about the history of this great city, why not join one of our walking tours? Our local guides are sure to impress! Click here to learn more and book your tours.

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