London 1666

We're moments away from witnessing history in the making.

350 years ago, right here,

on the River Thames in London, on this very day,

the backdrop behind me,

not far over there, would have been fully ablaze in one of

the most spectacular catastrophes in the city's history.

We're here tonight with a fire of our own to commemorate that event.

It's a fire that also represents the major challenges faced

by big cities to this day, our response to crisis and our ability

to adapt, adjust and rebuild.

It's time to immerse yourself in London 1666.

This programme contains scenes of repetitive flashing images (e.g. strobe lighting)

Hello and welcome to London 1666.

I'm Lauren Laverne, and tonight I'm delighted to present to you

a contemporary perspective on the Great Fire of London.

I'll be guiding you through this unique collaboration

between creator of large-scale arts projects Artichoke

and the burn artist David Best,

famous for his involvement in the Burning Man Festivals.

The magnificent structure behind me is

a representation of the 17th-century London skyline during

the Great Fire of London,

and it will be ignited in a dramatic retelling

of the events of September 1666.

This marks a moment that saw London devastated, only to rise from

the ashes and evolve into the resilient city it is today.

Tonight I will be speaking to some of the people behind

the build as well as exploring the historical and artistic context

around this unique project.

ONLOOKERS GASP

CHILDREN SHOUT

LAUGHTER AND CHATTER

CHILD: Wow!

You'll already have noticed that the structure's not designed

to catch fire as an instant, raging inferno.

Instead it is designed to ignite slowly

in a carefully choreographed sequence,

it is the ultimate slow burn.

While the flames begin to grow,

I am going to take the opportunity to speak to some special guests

to give us a bit more insight into the project.

I am joined by the artistic director

of the Royal Academy of Arts, Tim Marlow.

Hello, Tim, how are you? Very good. I keep turning, it's unbelievable.

I know, it's an incredible thing.

The company behind the project, Artichoke,

they have this long history of opening up the arts

and bringing them into public spaces and to crowds like this one.

Tell me a little bit about that, is that what makes them unique?

I think it does, yeah, there's a lot of public art in Britain,

but no-one quite does it in the way Artichoke does it.

They've put mechanical, giant elephants on the streets of London...

The Sultan's elephant.

..spiders in Liverpool, they've illuminated Durham -

from your neck of the woods - four times in the last eight years,

they made a temple in Derry-Londonderry where

both sides of the community came together, kind of shared

memories and a sense of loss, and then this thing was burnt,

and they really do know how to take art

into the broadest possible arena.

Have you witnessed any arts projects quite like this one

in your career so far?

Actually I've never seen anyone collaborate

with so many people in such an extraordinary and exciting way,

to make a commemorative replica of a skyline 350 years ago

and then set fire to it.

This is spectacle and then some.

And you are on the board, I think, of Artichoke...

I am, yes, so I'm bound to be supportive,

but they are a singular organisation.

But you will know them,

how will they be feeling tonight and how are you feeling looking at this?

I'm feeling incredibly exciting.

I know one or two people are saying, "All the effort going into

"this and now it's burning", but that's the point of it.

I feel I'm taking part in some ancient ritual,

some great commemorative act.

Artichoke are great diplomats, but they're also fantastic at

making sure things happen, and here it is happening.

Thank you, Tim.

Time now to take a look at how this project came about through

a unique collaboration between creative arts company Artichoke

and renowned burn artist David Best.

The way these projects tend to start is that quite often I have

an idea or a commission from somebody, and I think,

"Which artist would work with this, who do I know whose work I love?"

My first meeting with Helen was a number of years ago

when she was doing Lumiere.

She had the vision and the dream of going to Derry

and building a temple.

Back at the beginning of mankind,

when we were frightened by animals we lit a fire and huddled around it.

I use fires as a healing... It's not used as a weapon.

What David has created here is not so much

a faithful model of 17th-century London,

more an artistic impression of the skyline

and the look of what Restoration London might have been like.

So what you are seeing is an interpretation of my drawings

that have been reduced so we can manufacture them here.

We're able to put it together in a way that it's going to function.

I figured how many, 190 buildings are going to be built?

Scale buildings, three or four churches and towers,

and some factory buildings.

The big hook for me was not necessarily the history

of the London Fire as much as it was the involvement of the kids

from the community.

What we're building here,

some of these kids are never going to forget.

To actually accomplish it, to see all these people who have

worked together to make something impossible possible,

it's such a fantastic feeling.

I'm hoping that the public will go,

"Wow, how did this thing come about? How did this thing come about?"

So there you go, we have seen the lightbulb moments

that brought this huge undertaking together,

and I am joined by Helen Marriage, who you just saw

in the film there, she is the director of Artichoke

and the main person behind this incredible work of art.

I mean, hello. Hello! Congratulations. How do you feel?

Not quite over it yet.

I feel so relieved that it actually went up,

cos obviously when you do a live event, you never know.

You say that this is going to happen,

but the number of people who have to work on it to make something

like this happen exactly on time, as we promised,

that's a huge thing, and I pay tribute

to the whole team who've made it work.

So, Helen, we saw you in the film there talking about

choosing artists that you love to work with.

When you first got the brief for making a project about

the Great Fire of London, did you instantly think of David Best?

Yes. There were a few I thought of, Carabosse,

who did the Fire Garden down at Tate Modern,

but David was always central to our thinking,

because we'd worked with him in Derry-Londonderry in 2015,

an incredibly emotional project that brought together communities across

the divide, and I was hoping we could do something

beyond spectacle, that it would be an incredible spectacle but it

would also be made from the communities in London

that surround the city, which is where we've recruited all these

young people who weren't necessarily in work or training.

And they came to learn the skills of their ancestors,

because the things they learnt, putting together wooden buildings,

that's exactly what would have had to happen in 1667 after the fire.

This is, of course, the culmination of a whole kind of season

of events, the London's Burning festival of arts and ideas,

and there's been a lot of different commemorations and art events

happening, can you talk us through a couple?

Yes, I wanted to look at contemporary threats to the city,

so we looked at a piece called Holoscenes,

which has been going on in Broadgate Arena,

which is all about water, not about fire at all, because water,

flooding, climate change - that's much more of a contemporary issue.

The piece on the dome of St Paul's Cathedral

that you might be able to see behind us at the moment. The projection?

Yes, the flames and fire on the dome of St Paul's.

We had about six different projects. We are all looking at the...

I could just feel it for the first time.

I could feel the heat suddenly. It's really going up!

So these people come together like a great big family.

Everything we do is free to the public.

Audiences never pay.

It is a great big sort of joint enterprise.

Thanks for undertaking that on our behalf, it is fabulous.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Now it is time to take a look at the structure,

which, as you can see, is really starting to catch fire now.

Making such an enormous structure

to set ablaze in the centre of London is no easy feat.

It has taken months of planning and involved some complex

problem-solving and dedicated individuals to pull it off,

including a team of eight professional carpenters,

325 tonnes of granite and two 50-foot barges.

Take a look at this.

Artichoke just put together

the most brilliant team of workers.

In terms of bringing a project like this together from

a producer's point of view,

you start with the basic idea and the basic concept in terms of

the artist, the medium,

the location, and then you're really piecing together everything

from the tiny detail to really thinking about the bigger picture

as to how might you make

a sculpture of the 17th-century skyline of London and put it

somewhere where people are going to go to see it and enjoy it.

David had come up with the initial idea,

but I needed to flesh out the actual design of the component parts.

So there was a whole process of rescaling the sizes of

buildings to make them work on this barge in the middle of the Thames.

So what was a really wonderful interpretation of my work,

they were able to put it together in a way that it is going to function.

My role is to try and get

all the logistics in place to enable

the team to work and build the structure

according to David Best's designs.

I am Ben and I am one of the carpenters on London 1666.

In building these houses, I have been responsible

for siting them onto the boats and building the final project.

My name is Ryan and I am a metal fabricator.

We've been welding the cleats to the deck of the boat

so that they can fit the wooden frames to it

which the houses will eventually sit on.

My name is Michael, I work as a labourer.

The purpose of shovelling the gravel on this vessel is to prevent

the steel that is on this vessel from warping.

Watching the sculpture assemble has been somewhat inspiring.

Man, I am building this thing and the best part of this thing

is you get to light it on fire!

So we are obviously condensing what was three or four days of

the original fire into a 30- to 40-minute narrative.

But we are trying to just give a sense of how the fire spread

across the city and how the large structures survived the longest,

but then they dramatically came down at the end of the fire.

I feel so confident the way the crew has worked on this

and my presence is only...

I am just another volunteer on it.

This project takes people beyond their comfort zone and really

challenges them to think in different ways.

For me, that means that it is a truly unique experience.

As you saw there, we have had some truly dedicated individuals involved

in this project and I am lucky enough to talk to two of them now.

I'm joined by Gary, one of the carpenters,

and Michael, one of the labourers,

who've been working hard to complete the structures

and get them finished in time for today.

Have either of you ever worked on anything like this before?

Is this a first? Never worked on anything like this before.

It's once in a lifetime and it has been

a thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish.

Watching this as well is really awesome.

Michael, what about you? When did you come on board

and how has it been for you?

I've been on board this project for the total of a week.

It's been nothing short of excitement and exuberant

and it's an honour, actually.

What has your role been?

My role was a labourer.

Part of my job is to make sure that the vessel doesn't burn. Exactly.

Tell me about that. That is quite important.

It is achieved with the gravel, right? Yes, that's correct.

The whole idea of the gravel is so that the vessel, as you can see,

doesn't warp and also it prevents the vessel from catching on fire.

Building something and creating something

and then setting fire to it,

I guess, in some ways, it is counterintuitive,

especially in carpentry,

you build these beautiful things and then you are going to burn it.

We know you are excited, we heard that in the film. That's correct.

It's just one of them things that when you get the initial layout

and you see the plan, you look at it and go, "Wow, this is huge."

We're talking 120 metres long,

there's 200 buildings on there and we were told that

we've got to try and educate these young Londoners

how to build all this,

use the tools, use the equipment, assemble the houses.

I think it's great, I think these guys can take a lot from it.

Look how many people are watching this.

There's thousands of people here and they can all walk away

and say, "I did that."

That is pretty cool. Yeah, that's incredible.

Congratulations to you guys. Thank you very much

for speaking to us tonight. Thank you very much. Cheers.

Now, to talk to us a little bit more about life in London in 1666,

I'm joined by Professor Kate Williams

and author of 1666, Plague, War And Hellfire,

Rebecca Rideal.

Welcome, both of you. Hello. Hi.

Kate, take me back to London 1666, what was happening at the time?

This huge city, 500,000 people, and it's on the brink of modernity.

So on one hand, you have Charles II,

restored six years ago,

he has opened the city,

he has opened the theatres to foreign travel,

to foreign visitors, and then you've got the old London.

You've got the plague that has ravaged only a year before

and there's also paranoia and resentment.

We are at war with France, we're at war with Holland

and what's vital is that the city is the core of London,

the beating heart and particularly in political terms,

the Republican core, that is where

the most anti-monarchy feeling is felt,

so you don't want to get on the bad side of them if you're the King.

OK, right there are a few different accounts, aren't there,

Rebecca, about the cause of the fire.

What do you think it was? What do we know best?

I think we have to accept that it was started

in Thomas Farrinor's bakehouse.

That is the accepted theory,

there was lots of testimony attesting to that,

but actually shortly after the fire, and during the fire as well,

there were lots of rumours and conspiracies

that it might have been started by the Dutch or the French.

There was also a watchmaker that claimed to have started

the fire himself, which was impossible,

because he was away from the city at the time.

But he was executed for that crime.

Wow. But we think, as best we know, an accident to begin with?

An accident in Thomas Farrinor's bakehouse.

Then it spread very quick.

Kate, why did it spread so far so fast?

It is amazing, isn't it, Lauren,

that a fire in a tiny oven could then burn the whole city?

But there were two reasons.

Number one is that the city is a tinderbox.

It is all wooden,

the roofs are thatched and it's got these overhanging balconies

and signs that make it really easy for the fire to jump between,

over the road, as well as along.

So it is a tinderbox.

And then also, the authorities are just too slow.

They are supposed to be fire authorities

which pull down the buildings.

The Mayor comes and he says, to paraphrase,

a woman could urinate and put it out, so actually... A mayor? Wow.

That's what he said.

He doesn't pull down the buildings and by the time the King

overrides him and says "let's pull down the buildings", it's too late.

The fire has taken hold and it comes down to the river and because

so many of the warehouses have got inside them

flammable...gunpowder, sugar, it's a complete firewall

and so it is gathering pace, it is everywhere

and it simply cannot be stopped.

What about 1666 as a year, Rebecca,

is this a crucial turning point in British history?

Why did you decide to write a whole book about it?

Well, it is a really...a really interesting turning point

in British...well, English history, and then British history as a whole.

But I think the key message is that

we actually managed to rebuild quite quickly afterwards,

and I think it is a message of hope rather than despair.

And you can see behind me

that the structure is really starting to come down, now.

It's quite exciting to watch. We can feel the heat where we are,

out on this little jetty,

and the crowd, every time a big portion of the structure falls,

are giving, kind of, "oohs" and "aahs".

It's quite an exciting atmosphere down here.

Now to talk us through the reconstruction of London

in the aftermath of the Great Fire, we are joined

by award-winning architect and TV presenter Piers Taylor.

Welcome, Piers.

What did you make of seeing it in the flesh

and seeing the re-creation of the skyline?

It was extraordinary, because what it did

was give you a sense of how dense the city was in 1666

and how closely packed in

all of those buildings were.

We've heard a little bit about the materials.

Tell me about the architecture. Essentially, it's medieval, right?

That's right, and mainly made from timber,

which is obviously highly combustible,

but then covered in tar and pitch

and often, inside, combustible materials,

so as soon as there was a spark at the end of a long, hot summer,

everything went up.

And because they were so close to one another,

the fire just carried from one building to another to another.

It was a certain amount of pressure to modernise.

That's right - partly aesthetic,

but also because of the danger of fire.

But, of course, it was expensive to knock down everything

and replace it with brick and, until the fire,

people couldn't afford to do it.

But after the fire, everyone was forced to use brick.

Thank you so much, Piers.

Now, all evening, we have heard

about themes of displacement, recovery and community,

and these continue now, as the project of London 1666

has supported unemployed young Londoners

to work alongside the artist David Best and Artichoke

to design and build an extraordinary sculptural representation

of 17th century London. Let's take a look.

It's really exciting, being part of, like, something so huge.

I feel quite honoured, to be honest.

We're going to build a project that...

"I don't know who you are, but we are working as a team."

It was an actual shock -

like, "Wow, is this actually what we are doing now?"

We are building houses that, back in the day,

how they used to look before the Great Fire of London.

What we are trying to say to these young people is...

.."You can do this."

Well, the main things on this project I've learned is,

like, carpentry, design and technology...

That's what I have aimed for for a little while -

to go somewhere and literally work hard.

I'm communicating with people that I would never meet, usually.

So, now, it's kind of inspired me to do more construction work.

It makes me feel like I could do, like, anything, to be honest.

When you're thinking and you're just, like, "I've done that",

it just makes you really, really happy.

It makes me really proud of myself.

My aim is that I want to bump into these

and say, "Do you know what?

"You did that. You helped everyone else do that.

"You helped me do that."

And that's the main thing from this project

that I want to see as a result.

To be able to do something like this,

it's not a chance you really get that often, you know?

Afterwards, what we always hope is that that legacy continues on,

that the young people who've been part of this project

are going to be offered apprenticeships and traineeships -

that, beyond the memory of the event itself,

there are real opportunities for people to take part in.

As a direct cause of being offered this placement, in the end,

I got a job out of it, so I was, like, "Wow."

Came here for work experience

and I managed to pull a job out of this.

I'm really happy about that.

It's made me more motivated to, kind of, go somewhere else

and influence others, as well, into doing carpentry and woodwork.

'350 years ago, we helped Londoners'

and we should be doing the same thing now, for all people.

I'm joined now by two of the Londoners

involved in the project, Hamda and Atifa.

Welcome to both of you. Thank you for being here.

Thank you. Thank you. How did you get involved

in this incredible project in the first place?

What happened?

Well, we are signed up with an agency

that provides us with, like, part-time work

and, like, work experience as well,

and we just set up a meeting from then on and...

Yeah. It happened quite quickly, as I understand.

It did, yeah. It did. I mean, Atifa, was this new to you?

Were you already handy with power tools,

or was it completely new?

It was completely new.

I had no idea how to use any of the tools.

And how has it been? What are the memories that you'll take away

and the skills that you've learned?

Just the people we've met and skills we've gained from it

and, like, the jobs that we have been doing every day.

The team-working skills, as well, so...

I normally prefer working independently,

but in this project, it taught me

that to achieve the desired goal, of building the entire sculpture,

we all need to work together.

Otherwise, it can't be done.

And how has it been, going through that together

and then, you know, sitting here and watching it burn together?

What about that part of the experience?

It's really inspiring and emotional at the same time.

It is, yeah. It's amazing.

Like, I think...

Cos we've been working together, we're in a tent most of the time,

you don't imagine to, like...

You don't really see your work being watched by people

and, like, actually out there, until you are here

and, like, the turnout as well has been amazing.

Huge crowd, who are now spontaneously, by the way,

singing London's Burning

in a round, on the river bank, which is incredible.

Plus, it drew people together,

like, regardless of their age, gender, sexuality, colour, whatever.

There's no hatred or discrimination for this one amazing moment.

That's true, yeah. That's great.

Thank you so much, guys. Thank you. Thank you.

You can see behind me, now, that the fire boats are in position

and ready to extinguish the blaze,

including the historic vessel the Massey Shaw,

so we are going to have one last look at the blaze

before they put it out.

So, there we have it - London 1666,

a ground-breaking event which took months of hard work

from hundreds of participants across the UK's capital city

and all with their own stories of what the project means to them.

As the fire burns out, so does our commemoration

of the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London.

Thanks for watching. Good night.

Dip into the BBC Proms.

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