51°30′39″N0°6′16″W / 51.51083°N 0.10444°W /51.51083; -0.10444
TheRiver Fleet is the largest ofLondon's subterranean rivers, all of which today contain foul water for treatment. It has been used as aculverted sewer since the development ofJoseph Bazalgette's London sewer system in the mid-19th century with the water being treated atBeckton Sewage Treatment Works. Itsheadwaters are two streams onHampstead Heath, each of which was dammed into a series of ponds—theHampstead Ponds and theHighgate Ponds—in the 18th century. At the southern edge of Hampstead Heath these descend underground assewers and join inCamden Town. The waters flow 4 miles (6 km) from the ponds.
The river gives its name toFleet Street, the eastern end of which is at what was the crossing over the river known as Fleet Bridge, and is now the site ofLudgate Circus.
The river's name is derived from theAnglo-Saxonflēot "tidalinlet".[1] In Anglo-Saxon times, the Fleet served as adock forshipping.
The lower reaches of the river were known as the Holbourne (or Oldbourne), from whichHolborn derived its name.[2]
The river gives its name toFleet Street which runs fromLudgate Circus toTemple Bar atthe Strand. In the 1970s, aLondon Underground tube line was planned to lie under the line of Fleet Street, provisionally named theFleet line. However, it was renamed theJubilee line in 1977, and plans for the part of the route through theCity of London were subsequently abandoned
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The Fleet rises onHampstead Heath as two sources, which flow on the surface as theHampstead Ponds and the Highgate Ponds. They then go underground, pass underKentish Town, join inCamden Town, and flow onwards towardsSt Pancras Old Church, which was sited on the river's banks. From there the river passed in a sinuous course which is responsible for the unusual building line adjacent toKing's Cross station; theGerman Gymnasium faced the river banks, and the curve of the Great Northern Hotel follows that of the Fleet, which passes alongside it. King's Cross was originally namedBattle Bridge, a corruption ofBroad Ford Bridge referring to an older crossing of the Fleet.[3] In turn John Nelson in hisThe History, Topography, and Antiquities of the Parish of St. Mary Islington of 1811 linked a supposed Roman army camp found under some nearby brick fields with the site ofBoudica's final battle, based only on his comparison of the local topography with the scant description of the battlefield supplied by the near-contemporary historianTacitus.[4] The name was changed in the 19th century to refer to an unpopularstatue of George IV erected in 1830 but, although it was replaced after only fifteen years, the name remains.
From there, it heads down King's Cross Road and other streets, includingFarringdon Road andFarringdon Street. The line of the former river marks the western boundary ofClerkenwell, the eastern boundary ofHolborn and a small part of the eastern boundary ofSt Pancras.[5] In this way it continues to form part of the boundary of the modern London Boroughs ofCamden andIslington.
At Farringdon Street the valley broadens out and straightens to join the Thames beneathBlackfriars Bridge. In the lower reaches, the valley slopes in the surrounding streets which explains the presence of three viaduct bridges (atHolborn Viaduct across Farringdon Street, another over Shoe Lane, and another onRosebery Avenue where it crosses Warner Street).
A small tributary flowed west to east to join the Fleet nearMount Pleasant. This was later utilised to feedLamb's Conduit. The line of the original brook formedHolborn's boundary withSt Pancras to the north. The sweeping curve of Roger Street is part of that boundary line.[6]
The Fagswell Brook (also spelledFaggeswell) was a tributary that joined the Fleet from the east and partially formed the northern boundary of the City of London.[7] The brook flowed east to west on a lineapproximating toCharterhouse Street andCharterhouse Square. In 1603, the historianJohn Stow described its demise:
Fagges Well, neare untoSmithfield by theCharterhouse, now lately dammed up.[8]
A part of the course close to Charterhouse Square was excavated as part of theCrossrail project.[9]
The Fleet, which is now a sewer that follows its route, can be seen and heard through a grating in Ray Street,Clerkenwell[10] in front of The Coach pub (formerly the Coach and Horses), just offFarringdon Road. The position of the river can still be seen in the surrounding streetscape with Ray Street and its continuation, Warner Street, lying in a valley where the river once flowed. It can also be heard through a grid in the centre ofCharterhouse Street, where it joins Farringdon Road (on theSmithfield side of the junction). In wet weather (when the sewer system is overloaded), and on a very low tide, the murky Fleet can be seen gushing into the Thames from the Thameswalk exit ofBlackfriars station, immediately underBlackfriars bridge. (The tunnel exit shown in the picture can be seen much more clearly from directly above.)
The formermayor of London,Boris Johnson, proposedopening short sections of the Fleet and other rivers for ornamental purposes,[11] although theEnvironment Agency – which manages the project – is pessimistic that the Fleet can be among those uncovered.[12]
InRoman times, the Fleet was a major river, with its estuary possibly containing the oldesttidal mill in the world.[13] The river secured the western flank of the Roman City.
InAnglo-Saxon times, the Fleet was still a substantial body of water, joining the Thames through a marshy tidal basin over 100 yards (91 m) wide at the mouth of the Fleet Valley. Manywells were built along its banks, and some on springs (Bagnigge Wells,Clerkenwell) and St Bride's Well, were reputed to have healing qualities; in the 13th century, the river was called River of Wells.[14] The small lane at the south-west end of New Bridge Street is called Watergate because it was the river entrance toBridewell Palace.
As London grew, the river became increasingly asewer. The area came to be characterised by poor-quality housing and prisons: Bridewell Palace itself was converted into a prison;Newgate,Fleet andLudgate prisons were all built in that area. In 1728Alexander Pope wrote in hisDunciad, "To where Fleet-ditch with disemboguing streams / Rolls the large tribute of dead dogs to Thames / The king of dykes! than whom no sluice of mud / with deeper sable blots the silver flood".[15]
Following theGreat Fire of London in 1666, architectChristopher Wren's proposal for widening the river was rejected. Rather, the Fleet was converted into the New Canal, completed in 1680 under the supervision ofRobert Hooke. Newcastle Close and Old Seacoal Lane (now just short alleyways off Farringdon Street) recall thewharves that used to line this canal, especially used by the coastal coal trade from thenorth-east of England. (An adjacent narrow road, Seacoal Lane, also existed until the late 20th century, when the present building fronting onto Farringdon Street was built, perhaps suggesting that a new wharf had been built near the old one.)
| Fleet Ditch Act 1732 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for filling up such Part of the Channel of Bridewell Dock and Fleet Ditch as lies between Holborn Bridge and Fleet Bridge; and for converting the Ground, when filled up, to the Use of the City of London. |
| Citation | 6 Geo. 2. c. 22 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 17 May 1733 |
The upper canal, unpopular and unused, was from 1737 enclosed betweenHolborn andLudgate Circus to form the "Fleet Market". The lower part, the section fromLudgate Circus to the Thames, had been covered by 1769 for the opening of the new Blackfriars Bridge and was consequently named "New Bridge Street".
The development of theRegent's Canal and urban growth covered the river in King's Cross andCamden from 1812. The Fleet Market was closed during the 1860s with the construction ofFarringdon Road andFarringdon Street as a highway to the north and theMetropolitan Railway, while the final upper section of the river was covered when Hampstead was expanded in the 1870s.
The history of the River Fleet was documented by the 19th-century artist and historianAnthony Crosby. His sketches and notes are held in the Crosby Collection atThe London Archives.[16] The archive has been used extensively by researchers, historians and publishers to provide images and contemporary descriptions of the 19th-century Fleet during the period when it was undergoing significant change.
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Sweepings from Butchers Stalls, Dung, Guts and Blood,
Drown'd Puppies, stinking Sprats, all drench'd in Mud,
Dead Cats and Turnip-Tops come tumbling down the Flood.
| Next confluence upstream | River Thames | Next confluence downstream |
| River Effra (south) | River Fleet | River Walbrook (north) |