Monument to the Great Fire of London

The Monument to the Great Fire of London stands in the City of London near London Bridge. It is a tall Doric column made of Portland stone with a gilded urn of fire at the top. The column is exactly 202 feet high and 202 feet west of the spot in Pudding Lane where the Great Fire began on 2 September 1666. The fire destroyed many buildings, including the church of St Margaret, New Fish Street, which once stood where the Monument now stands. Another monument, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner, marks where the fire was finally stopped. The Monument was designed by Robert Hooke and built between 1671 and 1677. The Monument is more than just a memorial. Its height matches its distance from the bakery of Thomas Farriner, the king’s baker, where the fire started. The viewing platform at the top is reached by a narrow staircase of 311 steps. A mesh cage was added in the 19th century to stop people jumping from the top. Three sides of the base carry long Latin inscriptions describing the fire, its damage, and the rebuilding. The words once blamed Roman Catholics for the fire, but these were removed in 1830. A relief sculpture by Caius Gabriel Cibber shows the destruction and restoration of London. Visitors find a busy square around the Monument with a glass pavilion added in 2007. The steps inside the column lead up to the viewing platform, where a panoramic camera now circles above the city. The Monument Square was once called Monument Yard and was made pedestrian-friendly in 2006. The staircase itself has steps exactly 150 millimetres high, once used for scientific experiments. At the very top, a hinged lid in the urn opens to a shaft that once served as a telescope and laboratory. The view from the top once stretched over all of London’s spires.