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Fleet Street

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Fleet Street

Fleet Street is a street in London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary of the Cities of London and Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was named.

The street has been an important through route since Roman times. During the Middle Ages, businesses were established and senior clergy lived there; several churches remain from this time including Temple Church and St Bride's. The street became known for printing and publishing at the start of the 16th century and by the 20th century, most British national newspapers operated here. Much of the industry moved out in the 1980s after News International set up cheaper manufacturing premises in Wapping, but some former newspaper buildings are listed and have been preserved. The term Fleet Street remains a metonym for the British national press, and pubs on the street once frequented by journalists remain popular.

Fleet Street has a significant number of monuments and statues along its length, including the dragon at Temple Bar and memorials to a number of figures from the British press, such as Samuel Pepys and Lord Northcliffe. The street is mentioned in several works by Charles Dickens and is the home of the fictional murderer Sweeney Todd.

Fleet Street is named after the River Fleet, which runs from Hampstead to the River Thames at the western edge of the City of London. It is one of the oldest roads outside the original city and was established by the Middle Ages. In the 13th century, it was known as Fleet Bridge Street, and in the early 14th century it became known as Fleet Street.

The street runs east from Temple Bar, the boundary between the Cities of London and Westminster, as a continuation of the Strand from Trafalgar Square. It crosses Chancery Lane and Fetter Lane to reach Ludgate Circus by the London Wall. The road ahead is Ludgate Hill. The street numbering runs consecutively from west to east south-side and then east to west north-side. It links the Roman and medieval boundaries of the City after the latter was extended. The section of Fleet Street between Temple Bar and Fetter Lane is part of the A4, a major road running west through London, although it once ran along the entire street and eastwards past St Paul's Churchyard towards Cannon Street.

The nearest London Underground stations are Temple, Chancery Lane, and Blackfriars tube/mainline station and the City Thameslink railway station. London Bus routes 4, 11, 15, 23, 26, 76 and 172 run along the full length of Fleet Street, while route 341 runs between Temple Bar and Fetter Lane.

Fleet Street was established as a thoroughfare in Roman London and there is evidence that a route led west from Ludgate by 200 AD. Local excavations revealed remains of a Roman amphitheatre near Ludgate on what was Fleet Prison, but other accounts suggest the area was too marshy for regular inhabitation by the Romans. The Saxons did not occupy the Roman city but established Lundenwic further west around what is now Aldwych and the Strand.

Many prelates lived around the street during the Middle Ages, including the Bishops of Salisbury and St Davids and the Abbots of Faversham, Tewkesbury, Winchcombe and Cirencester. Tanning of animal hides became established on Fleet Street owing to the nearby river, though this increased pollution leading to a ban on dumping rubbish by the mid-14th century. Many taverns and brothels were established along Fleet Street and have been documented as early as the 14th century. Records show that Geoffrey Chaucer was fined two shillings for attacking a friar in Fleet Street, though modern historians believe this is apocryphal.

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