the great fire of london broke out at the beginning of september 1666. unfortunately there were warehouses full of timber, pitch, tallow, wine and tar. these caught fire and, in the end, all the riverfront buildings were destroyed. the fire eventually destroyed about 60% of the city, (mainly the city of london, rather than the large city we have today). old st paul's cathedral was destroyed. some fires burnt more widely, up to present-day southwark and even highgate (which are not in the city, but are in london).