History of London people, which was one fifth of the population. Samuel Pepys chronicled the epidemic in his diary. On 4 September 1665 he wrote "I have stayed in the city till above 7400 died in one week, and of them about 6000 of the plague, and little noise heard day or night but tolling of bells." The Great Plague was immediately followed by another catastrophe, albeit one which helped to put an end to the plague. On the Sunday, 2 September 1666 the Great Fire of London broke out at one o'clock in the morning at a bakery in Pudding Lane in
7th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment did not have its own drill hall, and drill parades were held at Regent's Park, the Ditch of the Tower of London and at Gray's Inn Square. Prize-givings and inspections were held in the Guildhall, and the annual inspection was carried out at Horse Guards Parade. Church parades were held at St Bride's Church, Fleet Street. The headquarters was first at 26 Great Tower Street, then 38 New Broad Street, both in the City, and afterwards at 76 Farringdon Road in Clerkenwell, but in 1903 the battalion raised enough money to obtain larger premises at Sun Street, Finsbury Square. During