In VVillam the Conquerors time.

IN the 20 th. Year of his Reign, so great a Fire hapned in Bakers Chron. London, that from the West-gate to the East-gate it con­sumed Houses and Churches all the way, and among the rest the Church of St. Paul, the most grievous Fire that ever hapned in that City. After this ensued a great mortality of Men and Cattel.

In VVilliam the 2ds. time.

IN the 4 th. Year of his Reign, on St. Lukes day, above six hundred Houses in London were thrown down with Tem­pest, and the roof of St. Mary Bow Church in Cheapside was so raized, that in the fall six of the beams, being 27 foot long, were driven so deep into the ground (the streets being not then paved with Stone) that not above 4 foot remained in sight, and yet stood in such rank and order as the Work­men had placed them upon the Church.

In Henry the firsts time.

FIrst Chichester with the principal Monastery was burnt to the ground. From Westcheap in London to Aldgate a long tract of buildings was consumed with Fire. Worcester also and Rochester, even in the Kings presence; then Winche­ster, Bath, Glocester, Lincoln, Peterborough, and other places did also partake of this calamity, that there could be no charging the Fire with any partiality.

In King Stephens time, no casualty of Fire, nor any Pesti­lential Disease are recorded.

In Henry the seconds time.

IN the 18 th. Year of his Reign, the Church of Norwich, with the Houses thereto belonging, was burnt. In the 24 th. Year, the City of York was burnt: Also in the same Year, on the 10 th. day of April, the Church of St. Andrews in Rochester, was consumed with fire. In the 28 th. Year of his Reign, Barnwel, with the Priory near Cambridge, was burnt. In the 30 th. Year of his Reign, the Abbey of Glastenbury was burnt, with the Church of St. Julian; and on the 20 th. of October, in the Year 1180. the Cathedral Church of Chi­chester, and all the whole City was burnt. The 20 th. of Sept. 1188. the Town of Beverley, with the Church of St. John there, was burnt.

In Richard the firsts time.

IN his time the Town of Mawling in Kent, with the Nunnery, was consumed with fire; and then followed so great a Mortality of men, that the Living scarce sufficed to bury the Dead.

[Page 5] In King Johns time, no Casualty of Fire.

In Henry the thirds time.

THe Church of St. Mildred in Canterbury, and a great part of the City was burnt: Also the Town of New­castle upon Tine was burnt, Bridge and all. And in this Kings Reign 20000 people in London were starved for want of Food.

In Edward the firsts time.

IN the 17 th. Year of his Reign, the City of Carlisle, and the Abby, with all the Houses belonging to the Friers Mi­nors, was consumed with fire. In his one and twentieth Year, a great part of the Town of Cambridge, with the Church of our Lady, was also burnt. In the 27 th. Year of his Reign, his Palace at VVestminster, and the Monastery adjoyning, were consumed with fire. The Monastery of Glocester was also burnt to the ground.

In Edward the seconds time.

IN the fourth Year of his Reign, the Church of Middleton in Dorsetshire, with all the Monuments, was consumed with Lightning; and soon after followed a great Pestilence.

In Edward the thirds time.

NO casualty of fire; but so contagious a Pestilence, that between the first of January and the first of July, in the two and twentieth Year of his Raign, there dy'd in London 57374 persons, and in Yarmouth in one Year 7052. And in the 35 th. Year of his Reign, another Pestilence, whereof divers of the Nobility dy'd.

In Richard the seconds time.

NO casualty of fire; but in his third Year so great a Mor­tality afflicted the North parts of England, that the Country became almost desolate.

In Henry the fourths time.

IN the 7 th. year of his Reign, the Town of Royston in Hart­fordshire was burnt.

In Henry the fifths time.

IN the fifth year of his Reign, a great part of the City of Norwich was burnt, with all the House of the Friers preachers, and two Fryers of that Order.

In Henry the sixths time.

NO casualty of Fire or Pestilence in his Reign; but the Postern Gates of London by East-Smithfield against the Tower, sank by Night more than seven foot in the Earth.

In Edward the fourths time.

IN his third Year, the Minster of York, and the Steeple of Christchurch in Norwich, were burnt; And in his 17 th. and 19 Years, two great Pestilences reigned in England, of which innumerable people dyed.

In Edward the fifths, and Richard the thirds time.

THere is no Record of any Fire or Pestilence.

In Henry the sevenths time.

IN this Kings Reign, the Sweating Sickness took away many thousands.

22 August 1485. A great fire hapned in Breadstreet in Lon­don, in which were burnt the Parson of St. Mildreds, and another Man.

21 Decemb. In his 13 th. Year, suddenly in the night brake out a fire in the Kings Lodgings, being then at his Mannor in Streen, by violence whereof, a great part of the old Building was burnt, with Hangings, Beds, Apparel, Plate, and many Jewels, to a great value.

In his 15 th. Year, the Town of Braham in Norfolk was burnt; and the same Year 30000 persons dyed of the Plague in London.

In his 22 th. Year, the City of Norwich was well near con­sumed with fire.

In Henry the eights time.

IN his 9 th. Year, hapned a Sweating Sickness, whereof infinite multitudes both of the Nobility and others, in many parts of England dyed.

In his 13 th. Year, was likewise a great Mortality.

In his 20 th. Year, another Sweating Sickness which in­sected the whole Realm.

In his 33 th. Year, was another great Mortality in the Realm, by hot Agues and Fluxes.

In his 36 th. Year, was a great Plague in Lnodon.

In Edward the sixths time.

IN his second Year, St. Annes Church within Aldersgate, was burnt.

[Page 8] In his fifth Year, a Sweating Sickness infected most parts of the Realm.

In Queen Maries time.

IN her fourth Year, hot burning Agues, and other distem­pers, took away much people, among which, 7 Alder­men of London.

In her fifth Year, in Harvest time, was a great Mortality.

In Queen Elizabeths time.

IN her 3 d. Year, the Spire of the Cathedral Church of Pauls being 520 foot from the ground, and 260 from the square Steeple where it was placed, and was made of wooden materials, but covered with Lead, was with Lightning burnt down, together with the Roofs of that large Church, and that within the space of 5 hours.

In her 6 th. Year, was a great Pestilence, especially in London, where in one Year there dyed 21 500 persons.

In her 8 th. Year, in the Town of Oswestry in Shropshire, 200 houses were consumed with fire, in the space of two hours.

In her 36 th. Year, was a great Plague in London, so as there dyed 17890. besides the Lord Mayor, and 3 Aldermen.

In King James his time.

IN the first Year of his Reign, there dyed of the Plague in London 30578. persons.

In his 4 th. Year, 160 houses in St. Edmundsbury were by chance set on fire and burnt.

In the Year 1613. the Town of Dorchester was totally con­sumed by fire: About the same time, the Playhouse called [Page 9] the Globe on the Bankside was consumed by fire, and soon af­ter the Fortune Play-house was burnt down.

In the Year 1614. the Town of Stratford upon Avon was burnt.

In King Charles the firsts time.

IN his first Year, there dyed of the Plague in London 4463 persons.

In his 8 th. Year, a fire brake out on London Bridge, by which most of the houses that were built upon it were consu­med, and burnt down.

Not to mention several smaller fires, at VVilbleton-house, in Fleetstreet, VVestminster, Limestreet, Holborn, and other parts of London, which hapned almost yearly, but the growth of them were still happily supprest by the care and industry of the Neighbours, and those in Authority.

These several Fires are mentioned in our Chronicles, un­der the Title of Casualties, without any suspition of being occasioned by the Plot or Contrivance of any Malignant or Discontented persons, though few Kings Reigns were with­out both Domestick and Foreign Enemies: But none of the above mentioned Mortalities were equal to that which hap­pened in the year 1665. nor any Fire so deplorable and out­ragious as that in the year 1666. which we are next to re­late.

In King Charles the seconds time.

IN the 17 th. Year of his Majesties Reign, the Pestilence raged most violently in the City of London, but especially in the Suburbs, in so much as there dyed of the Plague that Year within the Bills of Mortality 68596 persons. The In­section was so general, that a poor Woman Keeping Hens in Hatton-garden, the Hens laid Eggs that had large Plague [Page 10] Spots on them; which when she saw, she cryed out the Lord had Visited her House, and soon after her Daughter, and then her self dyed.

And in the 18 th. Year of his Majesties Reign, there hap­pened a most Dismal and Deplorable Fire in London, which began at a Bakers House in Pudding-Lane, on Sunday 2 Sept. See Rege Sincera's Observa­tions on this Fire. 1666. at one of the Clock in a dark Morning, in a Quarter of the City, so close Built with Wooden, Pitched, and old Ruinous Buildings, the Streets narrow, abundance of Com­bustible and Bituminous Matter, the foregoing Summer ex­traordinary hot and dry, a violent Eastern Wind, and the want of Engines and Water, concurring as it were unani­mously to the production of this wonderful Conflagration, and to do in three dayes, what three Armies of Enemies (not opposed) could scarcely have done in six, it spread it self so far before day, and with such distraction to the Inha­bitants, that care was not taken for the timely preventing the further diffusion of it, by pulling down Houses, as ought to have been. So that in three dayes and three nights, of a­bout 460 Acres of ground on which the City of London stood, it destroy'd 350, which is at the rate of four parts in five, it consum'd about 12000 Houses, 87 Parish Churches, besides 6 or 7 consecrated Chappels, and the magnificent Cathedral Church of St. Paul, the publick and most excellent Buildings of the Exchange, Guild-Hall, Custom-house, and almost all the Halls belonging to every private Company, besides an innu­merable quantity of Goods of all sorts, &c.

Divers Strangers, Dutch and French, were during the Fire apprehended, upon suspition, that they contributed most mischievously to it, who were all Imprisoned, and In­formations prepared to make a severe inquisition thereupon by my Lord chief Justice Keeling, assisted by some of the Lords of the Privy Councel, and some principal Members of the City; notwithstanding which suspitions, the manner of the burning all along in a train, and so blown forwards in all [Page 11] its ways by strong winds, makes us conclude the whole was an effect of an unhappy chance, or to speak better, the hea­vy hand of God upon us for our Rebellion, Pride, Whoring, Drunken­ness, Gluttony, Cheating, &c. SINS, shewing us the terror of his Judgements in thus raising the Fire, and imme­diately after, his miraculous and never enough to be acknow­ledged Mercy, in putting a stop to it, when we were in the last despair, and that all attempts for the quenching it, how­ever industriously pursued, seemed insufficient.

It is observable, that the Suburbs, where the Plague reign­ed most, was in a great measure spared by the Fire, and the City it self, where the Fire was most active, suffered little by the Pestilence; As if it were design'd by Divine Providence, that each part should have its punishment, and none a double one.

From Plagues, Pestilence, and Fires; Good Lord deliver us.