The Fleet. Its Rivers, Prison, and Marriages

Sir Christopher Wren built this bridge, which was meant to be the ornamental end of "The New Canal," as it is described in the map of Farringdon Ward in Stow's "Survey" (ed. 1720). It must have taken some time to complete, for it was not finished until the Mayoralty of Sir William Hooker, whose name appeared carved upon it (although somewhat mutilated) when it was uncovered in March, 1840. Sir William Tite, C.B., M.P., F.S.A., &c., Architect to the City of London, writing at that date, says: "The Sewer at Holborn Hill was opened, and as I was passing, I saw the southern face of the Bridge which crossed the Fleet at this place uncovered to some extent. It was built of red brick, and the arch was about twenty feet span. The road from the east intersected the bridge obliquely, which irregularity was obviated from a moulded and well-executed stone corbel arising out of the angle thus formed, which carried the parapet. On the plinth course of the parapet was cut the inscription following, recording the fact of the erection of the bridge, with the name of the Lord Mayor at the period: – "William Hooke(r). (A)nno D. 1674."

Sir William Tite says it was a red brick bridge; Hatton, in his "New View of London" (1708), says it was of stone; but then, probably, he never really saw it, and Tite did. Hatton's description is: "Holbourn Bridge is built of Stone, it leads from Holbourn to Snow Hill, over the N. end of the Fleet Brook, where a little rivulet called Wells, falls by Hockley Hole, running a little E'd of Saffron Hill, crossing near the W. end of Chick Lane, and so into this Brook."

The canalization of the Fleet after 1666 was a useful work, as it enabled barges to go up to Holborn Bridge; and that it was availed of, we can judge by the frontispiece, which was painted in the middle of the eighteenth century; but it was not much used, if we can trust Ned Ward, whose sharp eyes looked everywhere, and whose pen recorded his scrutiny 71: "From thence we took a turn down by the Ditch side, I desiring my Friend to inform me what great Advantages this costly Brook contributed to the Town, to Countervail the Expence of Seventy four Thousand Pounds, which I read in a very Credible Author, was the Charge of its making: He told me he was wholly unacquainted with any, unless it was now and then to bring up a few Chaldron of Coles to two or three Pedling Fewel-Marchants, who sell them never the Cheaper to the Poor for such a Conveniency: and, as for those Cellars you see on each side design'd for Ware-Houses, they are render'd by their dampness so unfit for that purpose that they are wholly useless, except … or to harbour Frogs, Toads, and other Vermin. The greatest good that ever I heard it did was to the Undertaker, who is bound to acknowledge he has found better Fishing in that muddy Stream, than ever he did in clear Water."

Gay, too, in his "Trivia," more than once mentions the foulness of the Fleet in book ii.

"Or who that rugged street72 would traverse o'er,That stretches, O Fleet-Ditch, from thy black shoreTo the Tour's moated walls?"

And again:

"If where Fleet-Ditch with muddy current flows."

Here is a pen-and-ink sketch of Holborn Bridge – from some old engraving or painting (Crosby does not give his authority), which gives an excellent idea of old London – squalid and filthy according to our ideas. How different from that noble viaduct which now spans the course of the Fleet River! which her Majesty opened on November 6, 1869.

CHAPTER XV

THEN, close by (still keeping up its title of the River of the Wells) was Lamb's Conduit, on Snow Hill, which was fed from a little rill which had its source near where the Foundling Hospital now stands, its course being perpetuated by the name of Lamb's Conduit Street, where, according to the "Old English Herbal," watercresses used to flourish. "It groweth of its own accord in gardens and fields by the way side, in divers places, and particularly in the next pasture to the Conduit Head, behind Gray's Inn, that brings water to Mr. Lamb's Conduit in Holborn."

William Lamb was a citizen of London, and of the Guild of Cloth-workers, besides which, he was some time Gentleman of the Chapel to Henry VIII. He benefited his fellow-citizens by restoring a conduit in 1577, which had been in existence since the fifteenth century; and, after the Great Fire, the busy Sir Christopher Wren was employed to design a covering for the spring, which he did, putting a lamb on the top, with a very short inscription on the front panel, to the effect that it was "Rebuilt in the year 1677 Sr Thos Davis Knt Ld Mayor."

It is curious to learn how the suburbs of London have grown within the memory of living men. Take, for instance, the following, from Notes and Queries (April, 1857, p. 265), referring to Lamb's Conduit. A correspondent writes that "About sixty years since, I was travelling from the West of England in one of the old stage coaches of that day, and my fellow-travellers were an octogenarian clergyman and his daughter. In speaking of the then increasing size of London, the old gentleman said that when he was a boy, and recovering from an attack of smallpox, he was sent into the country to a row of houses standing on the west side of the present Lamb's Conduit Street; that all the space before him was open fields; that a streamlet of water ran under his window; and he saw a man snipe-shooting, who sprung a snipe near to the house, and shot it."

It was no small gift of William Lamb to the City, for it cost him £1,500, which was equivalent to thrice that sum at present, and, to make it complete, he gave to one hundred and twenty poor women, pails wherewith to serve and carry water, whereby they earned an honest, although a somewhat laborious, living. Lamb left many charitable bequests, and also founded a chapel, by Monkwell Street, now pulled down. This Conduit existed until about 1755, when it was demolished, and an obelisk with lamps erected in its place, but, that being found a nuisance, was, in its turn, soon done away with.

Lamb was buried in the Church of St. Faith's, under St. Paul's, and on a pillar was a brass to his memory, which is so quaint, that I make no apology for introducing it.

 "William Lambe so sometime was my name,Whiles alive dyd runne my mortall race,Serving a Prince of most immortall fame,Henry the Eight, who of his Princely graceIn his Chapell allowed me a place.By whose favour, from Gentleman to EsquireI was preferr'd, with worship, for my hire.With wives three I joyned wedlock band,Which (all alive) true lovers were to me,Joane, Alice, and Joane; for so they came to hand,What needeth prayse regarding their degree?In wively truth none stedfast more could be.Who, though on earth, death's force did once dissever,Heaven, yet, I trust, shall joyn us all together.O Lambe of God, which sinne didst take away;And as a Lambe, was offred up for sinne,Where I (poor Lambe) went from thy flock astray,Yet thou, good Lord, vouchsafe thy Lambe to winneHome to thy folde, and holde thy Lambe therein;That at the day, when Lambes and Goates shall sever,Of thy choice Lambes, Lambe may be one for ever.I pray you all, that receive Bread and Pence,To say the Lord's Prayer before ye go hence."

It is said, also, that the old verses, so well known, were appended to the brass, or, rather, engraved on his tombstone.

" As I was, so are ye,As I am, you shall be,That I had, that I gave,That I gave, that I have.Thus I end all my cost,That I felt, that I lost."

But there is one well must not be lost sight of; for, in its small way, it was tributary to the Fleet – and that is Clerk's Well, or Clerkenwell, which gives its name to a large district of London. It was of old repute, for we see, in Ralph Aggas' Map of London, published about 1560, a conduit spouting from a wall, into a stone tank or trough. This is, perhaps, the earliest pictorial delineation of it; but FitzStephen mentions it under "fons Clericorum" so called, it is said, from the Parish Clerks of London, who chose this place for a representation of Miracle Plays, or scenes from Scripture realistically rendered, as now survives in the Ober Ammergau Passion Play. This little Company, which still exists as one of the City Guilds, has never attained to the dignity of having a livery, but they have a Hall of their own (in Silver Street, Wood Street, E.C.), and in their time have done good service in composing the "Bills of Mortality;" and gruesome pamphlets they were – all skulls, skeletons, and cross-bones – especially during the great Plague.

These plays were, as I have said, extremely realistic. One, played at Chester A.D. 1327, 73 represented Adam and Eve, both stark naked, but, afterwards, they wore fig leaves. The language used in them, would to our ears be coarse, but it was the language of the time, and, probably, men and women were no worse than they are now. But, at all events this Guild, which was incorporated in the 17 Henry III. A.D. 1232, used occasionally to delight their fellow Citizens with dramatic representations in the open air (as have lately been revived in the "Pastoral plays" at Wimbledon) at what was then an accessible, and yet a rural, suburb of London.

Hence the name – but the well, alas, is no more – but when I say that, I mean that it is no longer available to the public. That it does exist, is well known to the occupier of the house where it formerly was in use, for the basement has frequently to be pumped dry. The neighbourhood has been so altered of late years, that its absolute site was somewhat difficult to fix; yet any one can identify it for themselves from the accompanying slight sketch of the locality as it existed over sixty years since. Ray Street (at least this portion of it) is now termed Farringdon Road, and what with Model lodging-houses, and underground railways, its physical and geographical arrangement is decidedly altered.

Early in the last century, in Queen Anne's time, the Spring had ceased to be a conduit, as shown in Ralph Aggas' Map, but had been turned into a pump; and this pump even was moved, in 1800, to a more convenient spot in Ray Street, where it was in existence (which I rather doubt), according to Pink's History of Clerkenwell in 1865. However, there is very good evidence of its being, in an engraving dated May 1, 1822, of the "Clerk's Well" – which shows the pump, and a stone tablet with the following inscription:

For the better accommodation of the Neighbourhood, this Pump was removed to the Spot where it now Stands. The Spring by which it is supplied is situated four Feet eastward, and round it, as History informs us, the Parish Clerks of London in remote Ages annually performed sacred Plays. That Custom caused it to be denominated Clerks' Well, and from which this Parish derives its Name. The Water was greatly esteemed by the Prior and Brethren of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and the Benedictine Nuns in the Neighbourhood."

In later days, the Fleet, as every other stream on whose banks houses are built, became a sewer, and "behaved as sich;" so that it was deemed prudent to cover some portion of it, at all events, and that part where now is Farringdon Street, was arched over, and made into the Fleet Market. Our ancestors were far more alive to the advantages of ready cash, and consequent keen competition among dealers, than we are, although through the medium of Co-operative Stores, &c., we are beginning to learn the lost lesson, but, at all events, they had the acumen to know that large centres of supply were cheaper to the consumer than small, isolated shops, and the Market, was the outcome. It is next to impossible to make a Market – witness in our own times, the Central Fish Market, and Columbia Market, both of which are not absolute failures, but, to use a theatrical slang term, frosts– and this was an example.

The Canal, up to Holborn Bridge, was expensive to keep up, and as we saw, by the quotation from Ned Ward, it was next door to worthless. Meantime, sewage and silt played their work, as the stream was neglected, and, becoming a public nuisance, it was arched over, pursuant to an Act 6 Geo. II. cap. 22, entitled "An Act for filling up such Part of the Channell of Bridewell Dock, and Fleet Bridge, as lies between Holborn Bridge and Fleet Bridge, and for converting the Ground, when filled up, to the use of the City of London." The works were begun in 1734 and was arched over and finished in 1735; but, as buildings are necessary for a market, it was not opened, as such, until Sept. 30, 1737. For nearly a century it remained a market for meat, fish, and vegetables, although, of course, the largest meat market was Newgate, as being near Smithfield; and for fish, Billingsgate, which still maintains its pre-eminence But in 1829 it was pulled down, in order to make a wider street from Holborn to Blackfriars Bridge; and this part of the Fleet was called, and now is, Farringdon Street.

The Vegetable Market, for it had come to that only, was swept away, and a site found for it, nearly opposite the Fleet prison. It is still so used, but it is not much of a financial help to the City, as it only brings in an annual income (according to the last return I have been able to obtain) of between £700 and £800. It was thought that trade might be encouraged, and revived, if it were worthier housed, so what is now, the Central Fish Market, was erected; but, before the vendors of vegetables could enter into possession, a great cry had arisen as to the supply of fish to London, and the monopoly of Billingsgate, and the market was given over to the fishmongers. But it is not a success in a monetary point of view; is a great loss to the City, and, as a fish market, a very doubtful boon to the public.

The Fleet Prison, which was on the east side of Farringdon Street, will be noticed in its place; and, as we have seen, the river was arched over from Holborn to Fleet Bridge, after which it still flowed, an open sewer, into the Thames.

But, before going farther, we must needs glance at a curious little bit of Fleet history, which is to be found in "The Secret History of the Rye House Plot, and Monmouth's Rebellion," written by Ford. Lord Grey who was a party to the plot, addressed it to James the Second, 1685, but it was not printed until 1754. In p. 28 it states, "About the latter end of Oct. Monmouth s'd to Sir Thos. Armstrong and Lord Grey, that it was necessary for them to view the passage into the City, which, accordingly they did, from the lower end of Fleet-ditch, next the river, to the other end of it, by Snow Hill." And again (p. 34): "Sunday night was pitched upon for the rising in London, as all shops would be shut. Their men were to be armed at the Duke of Monmouth's in Hedge Lane, Northumberland House, Bedford House, and four or five meeting houses in the City.

"The first alarm was designed to be between eleven and twelve at night, by attacking the train bands at the Royal Exchange, and then possessing ourselves of Newgate, Ludgate, and Aldersgate. The first two gates we did not design to defend, unless we were beaten from Fleet Bridge and Snow Hill, where we intended to receive the first attack of the King's Guards. At Snow Hill, we intended to make a Barricade, and plant three or four pieces of Cannon, upon Ship's Carriages; at Fleet Bridge we designed to use our Cannon upon the carriages, and to make a breast-work for our musqueteers bridge next us, and to fill the houses on that side the ditch with men who should fire from the windows, but the bridge to be clear."

As a matter of fact, there seem to have been two bridges over the Fleet, crossing it at Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill, both side by side, as at Holborn. Crosby, upon whose collection I have so largely drawn, says that it is so, from personal observation, one bridge being 24 ft. 6 in., and the other, 24 ft. wide, making in all, a roadway of 48 ft. 6 in. presumably including parapets. From his measurements, the span of the bridge was 12 ft., and the height of the arch was 11 ft. 6 in., but he does not say whence he takes his measurement – from the bottom of the Fleet, or from the river level.

To this measurement hangs a tale, which is best told in Crosby's own words, from a memo of his in the Guildhall Library: —

"Fleet Bridge, Tuesday, July 28th, 1840. As I could not depend upon the admeasurements which, at the beginning of the year, I had taken in a hurried manner, at Fleet Bridges, while bricklayers were placing in a brick bottom in place of the original one of alluvial soil, I determined to obtain them the first opportunity. This evening, therefore, at ten o'clock, I met Bridgewater, one of the workmen employed in constructing the New Sewer from Holborn Bridge to Clerkenwell, by appointment, at the Hoard there, water boots being in readiness. I lighted my lamps, and, assisted by the watchmen, King and Arion, we descended the ladder, and got into that branch of the sewer which joins Wren's bridge, at Holborn. We then walked carefully till we reached Fleet Bridge. I suspended my Argand lamp on the Breakwater of the Sewer, and with my Lanthorn light we proceeded towards the Thames. We got a considerable distance, during which the channel of the Sewer twice turned to the right, at a slight angle, the last portion we entered, was barrelled at the bottom, the middle so full of holes, and the water so deep, as we approached the Thames, that we thought it prudent to return to Fleet bridge." (Here they lit up and took measurements). "All went well till about a quarter to twelve o'clock, when to our surprise we found the Tide had suddenly come in to the depth of two feet and a half. No time was to be lost, but I had only one more admeasurement to make, viz., the width of the north bridge. I managed this, and we then snatched up the basket, and holding our Lamps aloft, dashed up the Sewer, which we had to get up one half before out of danger. The air was close, and made us faint. However we got safe to Holborn Bridge…"

CHAPTER XVI

HATTON, writing in 1708, says: "Fleet Bridge is even with the Str(eet); it leads from Fleet Street over the Fleet Ditch to Ludgate Hill; is accommodated with strong Battlements which are adorned with six Peers and enriched with the Arms of London, and Supporters Pine-apples, &c., all of Stone; and bet(wee)n the Peers are Iron Rails and Bannisters, on the N. & S. sides of the Bridge."

On either side of where the Bridge used to be, are two obelisks, one on the North, or Farringdon Street side, to Alderman Waithman, and on the South, or Bridge Street side, to John Wilkes the notorious. The first bears the following inscription: —

Erectedto the memoryofRobertWaithmanbyhis friends andfellow citizens,M.D.C.C.C.XXXIII

This Alderman Waithman was almost one of the typical class so often held up as an example for all poor boys to follow, i. e., he began life with simply his own energy, and opportunity to help him. And, as a virtuous example of industry, when the times were not so pushing as now; and half, and quarter, or less commissions on transactions were unknown, we may just spend a minute in reading about him. Wrexham was his birthplace in 1764, and his father dying soon after, he was adopted by his uncle and sent to school. No one was then left very many years in statu pupillari, and, consequently, he had to join his uncle in business, as a linendraper at Bath. The uncle died in 1788, and he took a place at Reading, whence he came to London, and lived as a linendraper's assistant until he came of age. He then married, and opened a shop at the South end of the Fleet Market, nearly precisely on the spot where his monument now stands.

He prospered in business, and moved to other, and larger premises, became Common Councilman, tried to get into Parliament for the City, and ultimately succeeded in 1818. Next election he lost it, but in all subsequent ones he was the favoured candidate. He was Alderman of Farringdon Without, Sheriff, and filled the office of Mayor in 1823-4. The obelisk to his memory remains, but he has dropped out of general memory, and this revival of his life, for imitation, in industry and rectitude of conduct, must be my excuse for taking up my readers' time.

Far different is it with John Wilkes, about whom every one knows, and I have only to say that his obelisk bears the inscription —

A.DM.D.C.C.LXXVThe RightHonorableJohn Wilkes,Lord Mayor

This inscription became effaced through the weather, and was, within the last few years, replaced with a new stone; but it was grumbled at for not having the original word "Esquire" after John Wilkes, which was surely a work of supererogation.

Close by was Ludgate, with its debtors' prison of Lud-gate, which was rather aristocratic, being "purely for Insolvent Citizens of London, Beneficed Clergy, and Attorneys at Law," and which was even peculiar in the time when it existed; for Maitland, in his "History of London" (ed. 1775, pp. 28, 29) says: —

"The domestick Government of this Prison having something very singular and remarkable in it, I presume an Account thereof will not be unacceptable to the Reader. I shall, therefore, insert a compendious Abstract thereof from an Account published some Time ago by one who had been a long Time Prisoner there.

"For the quiet and good Government of this Prison, and the Punishment of Crimes and Misdemeanors therein committed, the Master Keeper and Prisoners from among themselves chuse the following Officers, viz., A Reader of Divine Service; an upper Steward, called the Master of the Box; an Under Steward; seven Assistants, who by Turns officiate daily; a Running Assistant; two Churchwardens; a Scavenger; a Chamberlain; a Running Post; and the Criers or Beggars at the Gates, who are generally six in number.

"The Reader is chosen by the Master Keeper, Stewards, and Assistants, and not at a General Election, as the other Officers are. The Reader, besides reading Prayers, was, originally, obliged to Ring the Bell twice a Day for Prayers, and also for the Space of a Quarter of an Hour before Nine at Night, as a Warning for all Strangers to depart the Prison; but for the Dignity of his Office, he is now exempt from those Services, and others in his stead are appointed to perform them. This Officer's salary is two Shillings and eight Pence per Month, and a Penny of every Prisoner at his Entrance, if his Garnish74 amount to sixteen Pence; and a Dish of Meat out of the Lord Mayor's Basket.

"The Upper Steward, or Master of the Box, is, by all the Prisoners held in equal Esteem with the Keeper of the Prison; and to his Charge is committed the keeping of all the several Orders of the House, with the Accounts of Cash received upon Legacies; the Distribution of all the Provisions sent in by the Lord Mayor, and others; the cash received by Garnish, and begging at the Grates, which he weekly lays out in Bread, Candles, and other Necessaries. He likewise keeps a List of all the Prisoners, as well those that are upon the Charity, as those that are not; to each of whom, by the Aid of the Assistant for the Day, he distributes their several proportions of Bread and other Provisions. He receives the Gifts of the Butchers, Fishmongers, Poulterers, and other Market People, sent in by the Clerk of the Market, by the Running Post, for which he gives a Receipt, and, afterwards, in the Presence of the Assistant for the Day, exposes for Sale to the Charity Men, by Way of Market; and the Money arising thereby is deposited in the Common Stock, or Bank.

"This Officer, with the Under Steward, Assistants, and Churchwardens, are elected monthly by the Suffrages of the Prisoners; but all the other Officers, except the Chamberlain, are appointed by the Master-Keeper, Stewards, and Assistants. The Design of these frequent Elections, is to prevent Frauds and Abuses in the respective Officers; but, when they are known to be Men of Probity, they are generally reelected, and often continue in such Posts many Months. The Monday after every Election, the Accounts are audited and passed, and the Balance divided; and, if it amount to three Shillings and four Pence per Man, the Keeper of the Prison arbitrarily extorts from each Prisoner two Shillings and Four Pence, without the least Colour of Right: But, if the Dividend arises not so high, then he only takes one Shilling and two Pence; the other Moiety being charged to the Prisoner's Account, to be paid at the Time of his Discharge; which new and detestable Impositions are apparently contrary to the Intention of the Founder.