Farringdon St. and the Fleet Prison c. 1820's
This Cache: On this site stood the notorious Fleet Prison by the side of Fleet River after which it was named. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844.
It came into particular prominence as a place of reception for persons committed by the Star Chamber, set up to ensure the fair enforcement of laws against prominent people, those so powerful that ordinary courts could never convict them of their crimes. In 1666 during the Great Fire of London, it was burned down on the third day of the fire, the prisoners fleeing at the last moments. During the 18th century, Fleet Prison was mainly used for debtors and bankrupts. It usually contained about 300 prisoners and their families. Prisoners had to pay for food and lodging. There were fees for turning keys and for taking leg irons off, and Fleet Prison had the highest fees in England. A grill was built into the Farringdon Street wall, so that prisoners could beg for alms form passers-by.
But prisoners did not necessarily have to live within Fleet Prison itself; as long as they paid the keeper to compensate him for loss of earnings, they could take lodgings within a particular area outside the prison walls called the "Liberty of the Fleet" or the "Rules of the Fleet".
From 1613 on, there were also many clandestine 'Fleet Marriages' performed here. As a prison, the Fleet was claimed to be outside the jurisdiction of the church. The prison warders took a share of the profit, even though a statute of 1711 imposed fines upon them for doing so: it only moved the clandestine marriage trade outside the prison. There were, in fact, so many debtors that many lived in the area outside the prison (itself a lawless area which operated under the "rules of the Fleet"). Disgraced clergymen (and many who pretended to be clergymen) lived there, and marriage houses or taverns carried on the trade, encouraged by local tavern-keepers in the neighbourhood who employed touts to solicit custom for them. There were also many clerks who made money recording the ceremonies.
During the 1740s up to 6,000 marriages a year were taking place in the Fleet area, compared with 47,000 in England as a whole. One estimate suggests that there were between 70 and 100 clergymen working in the Fleet area between 1700 and 1753. It was not merely a marriage centre for the criminals and poor, however: both rich and poor availed themselves of the opportunity to marry quickly or in secret.
The head of the prison was termed the warden, who was appointed by Letters patent. It became a frequent practice of the holder of the patent to farm out the prison to the highest bidder. This custom made the prison long notorious for the cruelties inflicted on prisoners. One purchaser of the office, Thomas Bambridge, who became warden in 1728, was of particularly evil repute. He was guilty of the greatest extortions upon prisoners, and, according to a committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire into the state of English gaols, arbitrarily and unlawfully loaded with irons, put into dungeons, and destroyed prisoners for debt, treating them in the most barbarous and cruel manner, in high violation and contempt of the laws. He was committed to Newgate Prison, and an act was passed to prevent his enjoying the office of warden.</>
A barbaric place indeed. The prison was sold to the City of London in 1844, by whom it was pulled own in 1846.
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Walking Notes [N to S]: Follow the gradient down towards the river. You will notice that the road widens significantly here, mirroring the River Fleet which used to be navigable up to King's Cross. History echoes through time in the road names here. Old Seacoal Lane is the first on your left, so named because it was the site of a jetty where coal sailed down from Newcastle used to be unloaded. Old Fleet Lane is where stone was unloaded to build the first stone St.Paul's Cathedral in the 12th century (the current St. Paul's is the fifth to stand on the site since AD 604). Go down over the crossroads at Ludgate Hill. This used to be a notoriously dangerous crossing of the River Fleet with steep sides that were treacherous to cross. A wooden bridge used to lead to the other side which is now the famous Fleet Street of newspaper production fame. This used to be the main routes out of the walled City of London, through Lud Gate one of the main gates of the city, to the palace at Westminster. On the other side the road widens further still. Look to your right and see St.Brides Church one block back. If you look down one of the side roads you will see the original height of the land on the other side of the river, St. Brides Church stands on the level ground some height above where you stand. On the right hand side, the building with the black window railings used to be the Bridewell Palace (coords N 51 30.772 W 0 06.257). Later converted into a women's prison in 1556. There is an information board there.
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