The area that occupied Fleet Market was originally the Fleet River, or commonly known as the Fleet Ditch. The ditch was impassable by boats because of all the waste and animals that were encroaching the area. After the plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666, the destruction of the ditch allowed “The New Canal” project to take its course as a new watercourse along the street.
Paternoster Row’s character was once entirely ecclesiastical due to being situated north of the St. Paul’s Cathedral. This famous alley, known as "the Row," was popular among stationers and text-writers whom dealt and sold religious and educational books. Although before the Great Fire of London in 1666 the Row was favored among “quality” artisans - such as silkmen and lacemen - that tailored to the fashion of the gentry class. After the Great Fire most of those trades were moved to Bedford Street, King Street, and Henrietta Street located in Covent Garden.
Surrounding St. Paul’s Cathedral, the St. Paul’s Churchyard was prevalent among booksellers from Fleet Street, as well the center for book trade and publishing for the whole country. However, after the Great Fire of London in 1666, the bookselling market moved to Paternoster Row, an alley located eastward from the Churchyard. Fortunately, the St. Paul’s Churchyard became revitalized with musical concerts.
The building addressed as 186 Fleet St., right beside St. Dunstan-in-the-West, was once occupied by Sir John Leng as the bookseller John Leng & Co.
This map will take you through the many key landmarks of Fleet Street depicted in James Malcolm Rymer’s The String of Pearls, or, The Barber of Fleet Street: a Domestic Romance (1850). Experience 1780s London through the movements of Sweeney Todd, Mrs. Lovett and others, and embrace the rich history and culture of Fleet Street today.
Remembered as a formidable scholar, St. Dunstan was one of the most venerated saints of Anglo-Saxon England. As the Archbishop of Canterbury, he founded the library at Canterbury Cathedral. It is estimated that the first St. Dunstan’s church, known as “in the West” to distinguish it from the St. Dunstan’s-in-the-East near Tower Street (built around 1100 A.D.), was built between 988 and 1070 A.D.
In 1884 the Jesuits transferred Hopkins from the beautiful countryside of St. Beuno's to Dublin’s newly formed University College to teach Greek Literature. This displacement became a tumultuous time for Hopkins. He was overworked, grading nearly 1,000 papers each term, and felt trapped within the confounds of the dirty section of this deary city. He eventually dies here in 1889, one month before he turns 45, from typhoid.
This is the location of Christina Rossetti's church, Christ Church, Albany Street. We know from her work that her faith was developed significantly by the Oxford Movement; we can find ideas of analogy and reserve throughout many of her poems. This church was a place of worship for many Tractarian theologians, and was even led by prominent figures in the Tractarian movement. The importance of the church and Rossetti's faith is undeniable in her work as a poet, and therefore this church is a place of great importance to the work and legacy of Christiana Rossetti.
