The 1665–66 epidemic was on a much smaller scale than the earlier Black Death pandemic. It became known afterwards as the "great" plague mainly because it was the last widespread outbreak of bubonic plague in England during the 400-year Second Pandemic.

In the spring and summer of 1665 an outbreak of Bubonic Plague spread from parish to parish until thousands had died and the huge pits dug to receive the bodies were full. In 1666 the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the centre of London, but also helped to kill off some of the black rats and fleas that carried the plague bacillus.

Apr 11, 2025 · Great Plague of London, epidemic of plague that ravaged London, England, from 1665 to 1666. City records indicate that some 68,596 people died during the epidemic, though the actual number of deaths is suspected to have exceeded 100,000 out of a total population estimated at 460,000.

This was the worst outbreak of plague in England since the black death of 1348. London lost roughly 15% of its population. While 68,596 deaths were recorded in the city, the true number was...

The Great Plague of 1665 killed 20% of the UK’s population, and an estimated 100,000 Londoners, just one year before the Great Fire of London. This 1666 broadsheet shows nine scenes from the 1665 Great Plague, including Londoners fleeing by boat, corpses carried through the streets and Londoners returning to their homes.

The Great Plague. Bubonic plague terrorised Europe for centuries. In 1665 a devastating epidemic struck this country killing thousands of people. Officially the ‘Great Plague’ killed 68,595 people in London that year. The true figure is probably nearer …

People called it the Black Death, black for the colour of the tell-tale lumps that foretold its presence in a victim's body, and death for the inevitable result. The plague germs were carried by fleas which lived as parasites on rats.

Feb 13, 2025 · By late autumn 1665, the death rate began to fall. The cold weather reduced the flea population, and by February 1666, the King and his court felt safe enough to return to London. The city had survived, but at a terrible cost. Parish records show that some areas lost half their population.

Apr 13, 2011 · The Great Plague killed between 75,000 and 100,000 of London’s rapidly expanding population of about 460,000. First suspected in late 1664, London’s plague began to spread in earnest eastwards in April 1665 from the destitute suburb of St. Giles through rat-infested alleys to the crowded and squalid parishes of Whitechapel and Stepney on ...

Mar 25, 2020 · In 1665 and 1666, one city experienced two enormous tragedies: the Great Plague of London and the Great Fire of London. The plague killed roughly 15 to 20 percent of the city’s population,...