London's Burning

This exhibition in place of the original Great Fire Experience made by JB Thorp in 1914, which has gone into storage while the museum's refurbishment is underway, starts by describing what London looked like in 1666, before explaining how the fire started and how people reacted. Bits of scorched tile, burnt brickwork and melted glass from archaeological excavations in Pudding Lane show the physical effect the fire had on London, while a film uses paintings and readings from Pepys and contemporaries to convey the atmosphere on the City streets. The exhibition then goes on to explore the after-effects of the fire, with the rebuilding of London, compensation to the destitute and the formation of fire insurance companies. As well as doing a great job of getting over the sheer scale of the fire - four-fifths of the City, a third of London's total area, was destroyed - the exhibition also tries to show the impact it had on the average person, both during the fire and in the bleak aftermath. A plaque placed on the baker's shop on Pudding Lane that blamed the fire on 'barbarous papists' (it was removed in 1830) reveals the desperate attempts at scapegoating that followed the fire.