Great Fire of London Map – The City after 1666
Price range: £35.55 through £59.95
The City & Liberties after the Great Fire of London in 1666
This remarkable Great Fire of London map shows the capital in the aftermath of the catastrophe of September 1666. Engraved by Emanuel Bowen after Wenceslaus Hollar’s near-contemporary survey, it clearly distinguishes the vast ruined district from the streets and buildings that survived.
Drawn at an unusually generous scale, the plan extends from Lincoln’s Inn Fields to the Tower and from Finsbury to the Thames and Bankside. Churches, gates, livery halls, markets, wharves and principal streets are identified, while two detailed reference panels help locate notable buildings and places.
An absorbing choice for anyone fascinated by London, family history, architecture or the age of Samuel Pepys, this map reveals both the scale of the disaster and the framework of the city that rose from it. Reproduced as a museum-quality fine-art print, its intricate engraving rewards close inspection and makes a striking historical centrepiece.A stunning certified FINE ART PRINT on heavy textured art paper — not a poster
- Direct from the publisher — no middlemen
- Printed in-house in Cornwall
- Free UK delivery — international shipping available
- Produced to meet — and often exceed — museum-quality standards
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Unlike most online offerings, our maps are produced entirely in-house, not outsourced to print-on-demand or drop-shipping services. This allows complete control over quality while offering better value. Each map begins with a high-resolution original, carefully enhanced and printed to order using archival papers and pigment inks for exceptional clarity, depth, and longevity. Every piece is personally overseen — no map leaves our workshop unless it is of a quality we would be proud to display ourselves.
Authentic Old Map Paper & Accurate Colour Reproduction
Paper choice is essential to the authenticity of our maps. We use specially sourced 190gsm paper made in the UK from pure materials and traditionally pressed with natural woollen felts. This process creates a subtle, randomly textured surface that closely resembles an original antique document. Likewise the use of premium quality ink fully saturates the paper, producing remarkable clarity, depth, and historical character. Colour fastness and sharpness will remain good for in excess of 100 years!
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Historical Background
Engraved by Emanuel Bowen, circa 1740, after Wenceslaus Hollar’s survey of London following the Great Fire of 1666.
This remarkable plan records the devastation caused by the Great Fire while preserving the surrounding streets, buildings and open ground in pictorial form. Bowen’s engraving was published several decades after the disaster but drew upon Wenceslaus Hollar’s near-contemporary mapping of the burnt city.
Map Details
- Original title: A Plan of the City and Liberties of London after the Dreadful Conflagration in the Year 1666
- Engraver: Emanuel Bowen
- Based upon: Wenceslaus Hollar’s survey of post-Fire London
- Publication date: Circa 1740
- Area shown: The City of London and its surrounding liberties
- Orientation: North approximately towards the top
- Printing method: Engraving
- Notable feature: The ruined district is left largely blank, while surviving buildings are shown in perspective
The map’s most striking feature is the contrast between the centre of the City and the surrounding neighbourhoods. Streets within the burnt area remain visible, but most buildings have disappeared, creating a large pale expanse that immediately conveys the scale of the destruction.
The title explains that the blank portion represents the ruins and extent of the fire, while the buildings drawn in perspective were those left standing. This makes the plan both a geographical record and a visual explanation of the disaster.
The map extends from Lincoln’s Inn Fields in the west to the Tower of London in the east. Finsbury Fields and Moorfields appear to the north, while the River Thames and part of Southwark occupy the lower portion. Ships, boats and riverside wharves emphasise the Thames’s importance to the life and commerce of the city.
Individual streets, churches, markets, gates and civic buildings are identified throughout the plan. A substantial reference panel lists churches within the City and suburbs, while a second key identifies notable places such as Guildhall, the Royal Exchange, London Bridge, the Tower and several livery halls.
Bowen’s map was not a proposal for rebuilding London. Instead, it records the old street pattern and the extent of the area destroyed, allowing the viewer to compare the ruined centre with the densely built districts that survived around it.
The result is one of the clearest cartographic accounts of London after the Great Fire: a city whose familiar network of streets remained visible even where thousands of homes, churches and commercial buildings had been lost.You may also like…
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