Fleet Street looking east (c.1920)

Image dated 1911.

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Photo taken in an easterly direction · * · ·
November
25
2013
Fleet Street, tradition home of British national newspapers, is named after the River Fleet, London's largest underground river.

This view looks east towards Ludgate Circus and beyond.

The railway bridge depicted lay beyond Ludgate Circus, and was part of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway which ran from Herne Hill south of the river to Farringdon.

This was expensive to build and the final section from Ludgate Hill to Farringdon, which included the bridge, was opened in January 1866. A short spur opened from just left of the bridge in 1874 and ran to Holborn Viaduct station. Even then the bridge was controversial and a petition of 1000 signatures was raised against it even before construction began.

There was a station just to the right of the bridge - Ludgate Hill station - and another to the left, just after the junction of the spur to Holborn Viaduct - Snow Hill - which was in a deep cutting as the line had to drop quite sharply to head under Smithfield market and then to Farringdon. In addition there was a goods yard to serve Smithfield and originally a connection allowing trains to travel eastwards on the Metropolitan to Liverpool St.

Snow Hill became Holborn Viaduct Low Level in 1912 and closed during WW1 - Ludgate Hill station closed in 1929. Freight traffic dropped off and in 1962 finished completely with the track removed in 1969 thus severing a cross-London link - all trains terminated at Holborn Viaduct which itself closed in 1990.

The original tunnels connecting to Farringdon remained, and in the late 1980s the value of a cross-London link was recognised.

With Holborn Viaduct station closed the bridge was removed and the line dropped below the surface - today City Thameslink station lies almost directly beneath where the bridge used to be.

Alas the police activity suggested in the foreground of the photograph remains unexplained.


Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence


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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY


John   
Added: 29 Mar 2023 17:31 GMT   

Auction of the paper stock of Janssen and Roberts
A broadside advertisement reads: "By auction, to be sold on Thursday next being the 16th of this present July, the remainder of the stock in partnership between Janssen and Roberts, at their late dwelling-house in Dean’s Court, the south side of St. Pauls, consisting of Genoa papers according to the particulars underneath." The date in the ESTC record is purely speculative; July 16th was a Thursday in many years during the 18th century; 1750 is only one possibility. Extensive searching has found no other record of the partners or the auction.


Source: ESTC - Search Results

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LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Comment
Wendy    
Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT   

Polygon Buildings
Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings.

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Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT   

Road construction and houses completed
New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only.

Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Comment
Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT   

Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS)
One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc.

I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Comment
Charles   
Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT   

My House
I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s.

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NH   
Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT   

Telephone House
Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000

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Comment
Paul Cox   
Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT   

War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street
Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there.

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Comment
Diana   
Added: 28 Feb 2024 13:52 GMT   

New Inn Yard, E1
My great grandparents x 6 lived in New Inn Yard. On this date, their son was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch

Source: BDM London, Cripplegate and Shoreditch registers written by church clerk.

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Comment
Vic Stanley   
Added: 24 Feb 2024 17:38 GMT   

Postcose
The postcode is SE15, NOT SE1

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LOCAL PHOTOS
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Smithfield Market
TUM image id: 1620388545
Licence:
Amen Court, EC4M
TUM image id: 1493474208
Licence: CC BY 2.0

In the neighbourhood...

Click an image below for a better view...
Smithfield Market
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The old wooden Temple Bar
Credit: Walter Thornbury
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Tate Modern viewed from Thames pleasure boat (2003)
Credit: Christine Matthews
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Middle Temple Lane looking towards Victoria Embankment (2008) The buildings are mainly occupied by barristers’ chambers
Credit: Wiki Commons/J D Mack
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Illustration of Fleet Market
Credit: William Henry Prior
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Amen Court, EC4M
Licence: CC BY 2.0


At the southern end of Carmelite Street in the City of London stood the Victorian-era Whitefriars Fire Station.
Credit: Wiki Commons
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View of Cloth Fair in 1884 showing the side entrance to St Bartholomew’s Priory, Smithfield.
Credit: John Crowther
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Holborn Viaduct from Farringdon Street, c. 1910 The building of Farringdon Street is considered one of the greatest urban engineering achievements of the 19th century. It was one of the first engineered multi-lane roads, and also buried the River Fleet in a system of underground tunnels, solving one of London’s most daunting sanitary problems. Its construction also included the building of the world’s first stretch of underground railway, a branch of the Metropolitan Railway that later became part of the London Underground running beneath Farringdon Road from King’s Cross St. Pancras into the City at Farringdon. The construction of Farringdon Street also necessitated the removal of the Fleet Market that had been built in 1736 above the course of the River Fleet, which is now London’s largest subterranean river. North of the market was Hockley-in-the-Hole (around Ray Street Bridge), an area notorious for bear-baiting and similar activities.
Credit: Bishopsgate Institute
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Farringdon Street, EC4M
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