Episode 2 of 2
Spire Fire and Collapse
- When
- 4 June 1561
- Where
- Old St Paul's Cathedral, Ludgate Hill
The spire caught fire on 4 June 1561, collapsing through the nave roof and melting bells and lead.
On 4 June 1561, the spire of Old St Paul's Cathedral ignited and crashed through the nave roof. The conflagration was intense enough to melt the cathedral's bells and cause the lead covering to pour down like lava, destroying the roof.
Sources
- Old St Paul's Cathedral Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-16
- St Paul's Cathedral Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-11
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.