The Lost River Fleet: A Self-Guided Walk And Map

London has many ‘lost’ rivers, that have played a huge role in defining the landscape of the city: the hills, the valleys, the shapes of roads. They are now predominantly buried in pipes under the streets of modern London. The city’s most famous lost river is the River Fleet.

The name Fleet comes from the Anglo Saxon word flēot meaning estuary or tidal inlet. 

Starting up on the heights of Hampstead Heath, it winds Southwards, joining the Thames at Blackfriars Bridge.

In the 18th century, as the population of London grew rapidly, it became increasingly polluted and fetid. From the 1730s-1870s the Fleet was gradually covered over and subsumed into storm relief drains.

Here is my self-guided walk of the route of the River Fleet. It should take approximately 2.5-3 hours.

Map here:

The Vale of Health

Our walk starts at the wonderfully named Vale of Health. The Fleet has two sources on Hampstead Heath, either side of Parliament Hill. They both feed a series of ponds and reservoirs: the Highgate swimming ponds on one side and the Vale of Health and Hampstead ponds on the other. They were mainly created in the 18th century from the headwater springs of the Fleet.

The Vale of Health was not always the idyllic corner it is today. The boggy area used to be called the, rather less glamorous name of: ‘Hatchett’s Bottom’. ‘Vale of Health’ was adopted in the 19th century to fit in with Hampstead’s growing reputation as a health resort for the well-to-do.

If you look away from the pond you can pretty clearly see the valley of the Fleet. Follow this as closely as you dare and as much as the foliage allows. How much of the river (really a series of small trickling brooks at this point) you can actually see, depends on how much rain there has been.

Follow the stream past the mixed bathing ponds, to Hampstead Heath overground station.

Fleet Road

The Fleet is now underground, with this part of the river being covered over in the 1870’s- the last section to be so. As is often the case with London, the street names give us a clue: follow Fleet Road.

From here until the next stop we will cross over to the other leg of the Fleet, so will not be following its exact route. There are not really many clues to its location (either modern or original) in this section.

Angler’s Lane

Angler’s Lane is our next clue to where the Fleet flows! It is so called because this used to be a popular spot for people to fish in the Fleet.

A local resident speaking in 1909 remembered how, in his youth, this area was ‘the loveliest spot imaginable’ with youngsters bathing in the river before the anglers arrived with their rods in the morning.

Quinn’s

Somewhere outside Quinn’s pub on Kentish Town Road, the two legs of the Fleet meet. The name Kentish Town is thought to come from the old English: ‘Ken-Ditch’. ‘Ken’ being a word for green or river and ‘ditch’ speaking for itself.

Another road name clue near here is ‘Water Lane’, that now runs along beside the railway. Being where the two legs meet, this area commonly pooled and flooded, hence the name.

From this point onwards we can pretty much track the route of the Fleet exactly.

Hear the Fleet! The Prince Albert Pub

Outside the Prince Albert pub you will see a drain cover. Put your ear to it/ try and shine a light down and you will hear/see the River Fleet!

After this the Fleet crosses under the Regent’s Canal. The Camden and King’s Cross sections of the river were covered predominantly after 1812, following the development of the canal.

St Pancras Old Church

As you walk along St Pancras Way- note the curve of the road. This used to be a path for pack horses and carts that ran along the banks of the river.

St Pancras Old Church is one of the most magical spots in London. It is thought to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in the country, potentially going back to the 4th century AD. You can read more about this fascinating spot here.

It would have sat, perched up on the banks above the River Fleet. The steep incline is either a natural hillock or it was deliberately raised above the flood plain of the Fleet.

King’s Cross Station

The area of King’s Cross has only been called such since the 1830s, named after a statue of King George IV. Previously it was called Battle Bridge. It is thought that there was an ancient crossing here over the Fleet- known as Broad Moor Bridge.

The name changed in the medieval period to Battle Bridge- giving rise to the urban legend that this was where Queen Boudicca fought the Romans in 61AD. There is also an urban myth that Boudicca is buried beneath platform 10 in King’s Cross Station!

Hand Axe Yard

Hand Axe Yard is so called because it was here that in 1679 a flint hand axe from the Lower Palaeolithic period (roughly 350,000 years ago) was excavated by archaeologists in the river gravel of the Fleet. Nearby an elephant or mammoth tooth was also discovered. You can find out more about that in my blog post about the elephants of Camden here.

St Chad’s Place

St Chad’s Place is a very satisifying little London alleyway.

Some sources state that St Chad was the patron saint of medicinal springs. Whether this is true or not, there was indeed a spring here- roughly at the point where St Chad’s Place meets King’s Cross Road.

It was a popular destination in the mid-18th cenury with up to 1000 visitors a week. Patrons would pay to drink the healing waters of the spring, either from the well or the pump room built here.

The waters were said to cure: ‘scurvy, bile, worms, piles, indigestion, nervous complaints’ and more.

St Chad’s Well, as it was known, declined in popularity in the middle of the 19th century and its death knell was most likely sounded by the arrival of the metropolitan line in 1863 that runs directly beneath here.

As you walk towards the next stop- note how the streets to your left climb steeply, giving you the clear sense of being in a river valley.

Bagnigge Wells

Now to the site of another medicinal spring! On the side of the houses on the right look out for this odd plaque.

It reads: ‘This is Bagnigge House. Neare the Pindera Wakefeilde, 1680’. It is thought to have come from Bagnigge House, with the Pinder of Wakefield being a nearby pub.

It is thought that there was a house here since at least 1680 and that it once was the house of Nell Gwyn. She is said to have entertained guests here including, her lover, Charles II.

In the 18th century, similar to St Chad’s Place, it became very popular when springs were discovered here and a spa was opened. It became notorious as a spot for discreet trysts.

The Coach pub

Outside the Coach pub on Ray Street, look out for another grate through which you can see and hear the Fleet flowing.

Saffron Hill

Similarly, at the junction of Saffron Hill and Greville Street there is another grate.

The area around Saffron Hill was once a squalid neighbourhood. In Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist this is where he situated Fagin’s den and described the area thus: ‘”a dirty and more wretched place he had never seen. The street was very narrow and muddy, and the air was impregnated with filthy odours”.

You will pass by The One Tun- an 18th century pub that appears in Oliver Twist under the fictional name ‘The Three Cripples’.

From here the Fleet pretty much flows directly under Farringdon Street, to the Thames. You will pass the roads leading up to Smithfield meat market on your left. On slaughter days this section of the Fleet was said to run red with blood.

Holborn Viaduct

The magnificent Holborn viaduct was opened by Queen Victoria in 1869 and spans the valley of the River Fleet. If you have time, climb up to stairs to admire the various decorations and look down the valley..

The area of Holborn gets its name from the middle English, ‘hol’ meaning hollow and ‘bourne’ meaning stream, in reference to the Fleet.

The section from here to Ludgate Circus was covered over in 1734.

Turnagain Lane

Note the street name ‘Turnagain Lane’. It is said that this name is due to the fact that if you were walking down here you would reach the Fleet and have to, yes you guessed it, turn again and find a different route!

Other street names of interest are Newcastle Close and Old Seacoal Lane. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, Christopher Wren was asked to turn this lower section of the Fleet into a canal. It was given high stone embankments and decorative bridges.

Barges containing coal from the North could dock at wharves here- hence the street names. The canal was a failure due to the age old problem of the Fleet being too polluted. there were multiple instances recorded of people falling and dying. One unlucky chap who fell in in 1763, got stuck bolt upright in the mud, freezing to death.

The area above Ludgate Circus was covered in 1737 and the section down to the Thames in 1769.

Fleet Prison

On the left just before Ludgate Circus was the site of the notorious Fleet Prison from 1197-1846. It was predominantly a debtors prison, with prisoners having to pay rent and board. This meant that often people would become trapped here in a cycle of debt.

Bridewell Palace

At 14 New Bridge Street, you will find a plaque denoting that this was once the site of the Bridewell Palace- built for Henry VIII from 1515-1520 on the banks of the Fleet. He used it as one of his main London residences for about 8 years.

His son, Edward VI turned it into an orphanage and hospital for the poor of London. In 1556 part of it became a ‘house of correction’ and then prison.

You can see Bridewell on the map below.

The entrance to no. 14 is a reconstruction of the original gateway to Bridewell Prison and above the entrance you can see a bust of Edward VI.

Blackfriar’s Bridge

Welcome to the final stop, you’ve made it!

The Fleet flows into the Thames underneath Blackfriar’s Bridge. At very low tides it can apparently be seen. The first Blackfriars Bridge was built in 1769 when the lower course of the Fleet from Ludgate Circus was covered over.

Thank you for reading/walking! I hope you enjoyed and if you are looking for more of my self-guided walks- have a look below.