Norvic Philatelics - GB New Stamps and Special Postmarks

Great Fire of London - 2 September 2016

In the early hours of Sunday 2 Sept 1666 a fire breaks out in bakery of Thomas Farriner in Pudding Lane, London.   Over the next few days the fire spreads through the city, the close-packed wooden houses, with thatch, stored materials like pitch and tar plus strong westerly wind making a ‘perfect storm’.

By 5th September 4/5 of the old city of London (within the city walls) was burnt down: more than 13,000 houses and shops and other buildings destroyed along with 87 churches and old St Paul’s Cathedral.

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The Stamps - three se-tenant pairs of 1st class, £1.05 (Europe 20g letter, Worldwide 10g letter and postcard); £1.52 (Europe 100g letter)

1st class pair of stamps Great Fire of London. 
Pair of £1.05 Great Fire of London stamps.
Pair of £1.52 Great Fire of London Stamps.

While fires were not unusual, the poor fire-fighting capabilities and inadequate management led to spreading – only leather buckets; primitive ‘squirters’; and long hooks for pulling down buildings were the tools available.   Thousands were made homeless by the fire, and set up camps in fields around the city. Within days, plans were being considered for the rebuilding and Christopher Wren given task of designing new churches and a new St Paul’s Cathedral. His 52 new parish churches became a 17th-18th tourist attraction, including the new cathedral.

The fire was one of the most infamous disasters to strike London, and is an integral part of British history, and featured in the education National Curriculum. For this stamp issue, Royal Mail decided to adopt a fresh way of telling the story of the Great Fire.  The "graphic novel’ style of illustration, re-imagines the events with accuracy (as contemporary illustrations do not exist and depictions of the Fire made afterwards tended to over-dramatise events). Working closely with the expert curator at the Museum of London, the stamp designs feature the artwork of John Higgins and convey the drama of the events chronologically across the six stamps, documenting the start, spread and end of the Great Fire of London in September 1666..

Technical details and details of background images:

The stamps were designed by The Chase and John Higgins and are printed by International Security Printers in lithography.  The 35mm square stamps are printed in se-tenant pairs in sheets of 30/60 (phosphor and perforation not known).   

Stamp designs© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2016

Products issued, available from Royal Mail: 

Set of 6 stamps (3 se-tenant pairs) -- First day cover -- Presentation pack -- Stamp cards (set of 6) -- Coin Cover - Stamps Souvenir (ie unaddressed first day cover sold for 90 days)

This page is for information only, we shall not be stocking these stamps.


Special Postmarks

Postmarks available for the day of issue will be shown in Royal Mail's Postmark Bulletins (download here), starting with the issue of 5 August.


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This page created 16 August 2016

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