By Permission of Heaven: The Story of the Great Fire of London

Join the Royal College of Physicians for a fascinating evening of Great Fire history with leading historian Adrian Tinniswood, OBE.

Explore the new exhibition ‘To Fetch out the fire’ telling the story of London’s 17th century physicians as they were divided by war, battled with plague and almost ruined by flames, only to emerge with hope for the future in a magnificent new home by Robert Hooke. A symbol of London’s resilience and revival after the Great Fire.

See 17th century collections which escaped destruction: medical remedies and potions, fascinating archives, precious silver, rare books and a stunning assembly of portraits, including some touched by the fire itself that have the scars to prove it.

Adrian Tinniswood, the evening’s main speaker, has written fourteen books on architectural and social history, many with a 17th-century theme. They include By Permission of Heaven: The Story of the Great Fire of London ; His Invention So Fertile, a biography of Sir Christopher Wren; and The Verneys: A True Story of Love, War and Madness in 17th-century England, which was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction.

Human tragedy, cultural catastrophe, medical emergency. This event reveals how the Great Fire of London was a final calamity visited on a city weakened by more than three decades of destruction.
An unmissable evening for fans of the capital’s tumultuous history.

5.30pm: event opens – registration, refreshments and exhibition browsing
6.30–6.55pm: introduction to the RCP’s Great Fire exhibition
6.55–7.35pm: Adrian Tinniswood: By permission of heaven
7.35–7.50pm: Q&A
7.50–8.30pm: exhibition browsing
8.30pm: event closes.