Ask anyone to name a London diarist, and the answer is almost unanimous: Samuel Pepys.
Though the 17th century naval clerk and Tory MP only kept a diary for nine-and-a-bit years, that was plenty of time to open a visceral window into the London of that era, both fascinating and problematic; indeed Pepys himself was involved in the slave trade, and guilty of what would now be considered sexual abuse.
His diary is most famous of all for documenting the ravages of the Great Fire of London, which ignited in the early hours of 2 September 1666's. Pepys was already documenting it in his journal by mid-morning that day: "By and by Jane comes and tells me that she hears that above 300 houses have been burned down to-night by the fire we saw, and that it is now burning down all Fish-street, by London Bridge."
To remember Pepys — and to mark the anniversary of the end of the Great Fire, a whole three days after it started — City of London Guides are having a Samuel Pepys Day on Friday 5 September 2025.
The four different walks —named after phrases that appear regularly in the diary — are:
'And So to Bed': An eastwards jaunt from Monument, where the great Fire started, taking in the area where Pepys and his wife Elizabeth lived.
'I to Church': Northwards from Monument, to learn about many of the places, people and incidents from Pepys' life.
'Up and by Water': Head from the Royal Exchange down to the Thames, where Pepys spent a lot of his time, one way or another. In one passage, he wrote: "I bought two eeles upon the Thames, cost me six shillings."
'From the 'Change': Walk westward from the Royal Exchange, via Pepys' experiences of Guildhall and Cheapside (where Pepys once "drank a pint of wine at the Star") and onwards to The Old Bailey, and Pepys' place of baptism, St Bride's on Fleet Street.
Samuel Pepys Day tours, Friday 5 September 2025
