The Great Plague killed more Londoners in a single year than any event before or since
New Walking Tour Explores Scary Times
The Great Plague of 1665 has secured its place in the collective cultural memory of London, holding the unenviable position of having killed more Londoners in a single year than any event before or since. Plague was an enemy that the people of the time had no hope of being able to fight off, a disease so devastating that it's been described as nature's perfect killing machine.
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The last year has been hugely disruptive for everyone, and the fact that over 19,000 Londoners have died with Covid-19 is an incredible tragedy. Nevertheless, despite the incredible hardship and loss the country has endured during the global coronavirus pandemic we're still comparatively better off when compared to the wretched citizens who lived through the Great Plague of London in 1665. As devastating as Covid-19 has been, a bad outbreak of bubonic plague was always an order of magnitude worse. And of all the major plague epidemics in London's long history, the Great Plague killed the most, by far.
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There are some interesting parallels between Covid-19 and the Great Plague, but significant differences between how society reacted then and now. For one thing, it's fairly clear that Londoners of today are a lot more caring and humane in their response to serious outbreaks of disease. And don't even get us started on the primitive, ineffective and often disgusting 'cures' and 'preventatives' people back then relied on.
Get out, get some exercise and learn something new!
Fancy doing something a little different for a few hours? Then join the Plague Doctor for a unique guided walk exploring what happened during the dreadful summer of 1665 when a hundred thousand Londoners (a fifth of the population) were killed by one of the most horrible diseases imaginable.
Our tale is certainly a macabre one, but there's a positive message too. The Great Plague of London was the biggest disaster to ever strike our capital city, but London soon bounced back stronger than ever. And we'll do the same now. London always recovers.
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