Great Fire barrel staves

These are the remains of one of the wooden barrels excavated by archaeologists in the cellar of a shop on Pudding Lane, which had burnt down during the Great Fire of London. The barrels were full of pitch, a tar-like substance used for waterproofing boats. Pitch is highly combustible. This shop was only a couple of doors away from the bakery where the fire started. Once these barrels of pitch caught fire they would have spread the fire to warehouses along the Thames. The warehouses were also filled with inflammable materials, such as hemp, coal, timber, wine and oil. From here the fire raged out of control along the wharves and was driven by the wind into the City.