Great Fire of London the confession of a simple-minded French watchmaker named Robert Hubert, who claimed that he was an agent of the Pope and had started the Great Fire in Westminster. He later changed his story to say that he had started the fire at the bakery in Pudding Lane. Hubert was convicted, despite some misgivings about his fitness to plead, and hanged at Tyburn on 28 September 1666. After his death, it became apparent that he had been on board a ship in the North Sea, and had not arrived in London until two days after the fire started. These allegations that
Ironmonger Lane was one of only two accesses to the Guildhall (the other being Lawrence Lane), a matter which made the travel of dignitaries difficult as two vehicles could not pass each other. The problem was alleviated after the fire when King Street was added by Christopher Wren to provide an additional access to Cheapside. Thomas Becket is said to have been born on the corner of Cheapside and Ironmonger Lane. The livery hall of the Worshipful Company of Mercers may lie on the same spot; it is a relatively modern building, the first hall having been destroyed in the Great Fire