Wren's London: The monument...

....in 1666 a baker by the name of Thomas Farynor (the Kings baker) left his oven on for a bit too long and ended up burning down 2/3rds of what we now know as the City of London (must cook like someone I know, and she works in Farynors House but thankfully not as a cook.....), from his bakery on Pudding Lane, just off the site of this road a monument to commemorate the event was built (only in London do you get a monument and a building named after you for nearly destroying the place).

The fire started about 1 am on Sunday the 2nd September and burnt for 4 day destroying a mile and a half square area , leaving 100,000 people homeless.

At 212ft, the monument has an internal 311 steps staircase that is still a fully functioning tourist attraction (here is one I created earlier), at the top sits a golden ball with flame coming out of it, rumour has it that the original plan was to place a statue of Charles II on top to which his response was "I didn't start the fire".


Also if you do fancy a walk up there, when you get there the views are ok but you struggle to get any decent photos through the wire mesh they have covered it in, but at least you get a certificate saying that you did it. Thanks...