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Year 10
AQA

The Great Plague of 1665

I can explain the impact of the Great Plague and evaluate the effectiveness of responses to it.

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New
New
Year 10
AQA

The Great Plague of 1665

I can explain the impact of the Great Plague and evaluate the effectiveness of responses to it.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Over 100 000 people in London alone were killed by the Great Plague.
  2. The actual cause of the plague was still not understood in 1665.
  3. No effective cures for the plague existed at the time.
  4. Authorities used social distancing to try and prevent the spread of the plague.
  5. Social distancing methods included household quarantines.

Keywords

  • Epidemic - when a large number of people get the same disease over the same period of time

  • Social distancing - the practice of keeping away from other people as much as possible, in order to stop a disease from spreading

  • Quarantine - when people are kept away from others because they have, or might have, a disease

Common misconception

The Great Plague was the last serious plague epidemic because a cure was found.

No effective cure had been developed to treat plague at the time of the Great Plague.


To help you plan your year 10 history lesson on: The Great Plague of 1665, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Have pupils compare responses to the Black Death and Great Plague. Ask which areas (i.e. explanations, treatments, prevention) were most similar and most different. You may also ask pupils what the similarities suggest about the extent of progress in Renaissance medicine.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. The process which saw the closure of many monasteries in England was known as the of the Monasteries?
Correct Answer: Dissolution
Q2.
What type of hospitals were infectious patients sent to in the 17th century?
Correct Answer: pest houses, plague houses, pox houses
Q3.
How many general hospitals were founded in London from 1720-50?
0
2
Correct answer: 5
15
Q4.
Why did 18th century hospitals become more unsanitary?
cleanliness was considered unimportant
Correct answer: growing patient numbers
physicians refused to work in hospitals
Q5.
Write the missing word. Most working in 18th century hospitals lacked medical training and were considered unskilled.
Correct Answer: nurses
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Most English hospitals run by the Church
2 - Henry VIII dissolves monasteries and with this, most hospitals
3 - St Bartholomew's Hospital re-founded by Henry VIII
4 - Guy's Hospital founded by the merchant Thomas Guy

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. A is when people are kept away from others because they have, or might have, a disease.
Correct Answer: quarantine
Q2.
How many people died in London during the Great Plague of 1665?
Correct Answer: 100 000, 100,000, 100000
Q3.
Write the missing number. During the Great Plague, households where someone was infected were required to quarantine for days.
Correct Answer: 40, forty
Q4.
Which group was most likely to have remained in London during the Great Plague?
physicians
Correct answer: poor people
priests
politicians
Q5.
Which response to the plague was intended to protect people from miasma?
bloodletting
Correct answer: burning fires with herbs in
closing theatres
social distancing
Q6.
Which inference is most valid based on the following information: the Great Plague mostly affected London, and a few other towns and cities, such as Norwich?
social distancing was completely effective
Correct answer: social distancing was somewhat effective
social distancing was largely ineffective

Additional material

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