Farringdon Street was constructed over the Fleet river.
In this street once stood Fleet Market. When the Fleet Ditch was arched over in 1737, Fleet Market began. It was opened for the sale of meat, fish, and vegetables on the 30 September, 1737; but it did not complete a century of existence here.
In 1829 it was found necessary to widen the thoroughfare from Holborn to Blackfriars Bridge; so Fleet Market was removed from Farringdon Street, and Farringdon Market, in the immediate vicinity, but off the line of the street, was opened instead.
On the east side of Farringdon Street, and on part of the site of the old Fleet Prison, the Congregational Memorial Hall and Library was opened in 1872.
To avoid a dangerous descent of Holborn Hill into the Fleet valley, the Victorians resolved to build a viaduct and high-level bridge over Farringdon Street, supplanting Skinner Street, and form a spacious thoroughfare connecting the City with Holborn and Oxford Street. The works were commenced in May 1863, and it was more than six years before the valley was bridged over, and the viaduct opened to the public. The cost of the improvements considerably exceeded two million pounds.
