Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the River Fleet. The prison was built in 1197, was rebuilt several times, and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.
"Pray remember ye poor debtors": inmates of the Fleet Prison beg passers by for alms
The Racquet Ground of the Fleet Prison circa 1808
The River Fleet is the largest of London's subterranean rivers, all of which today contain foul water for treatment. It has been used as a sewer since the development of Joseph Bazalgette's London sewer system in the mid-19th century with the water being treated at Beckton Sewage Treatment Works. Its headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath, each of which was dammed into a series of ponds—the Hampstead Ponds and the Highgate Ponds—in the 18th century. At the southern edge of Hampstead Heath these descend underground as sewers and join in Camden Town. The waters flow 4 miles (6 km) from the ponds.
Entrance to the Fleet River as it emerges into the Thames, by Samuel Scott, c. 1750
The mouth of the River Fleet in 2002, appearing as a drainage outlet (obscured in shadow) in the embankment wall beneath Blackfriars Bridge
Bridge over the New Canal at Holborn: illustration from Alexander Pope's Dunciad (1728). The bathers are included in satirical allusion to the poor quality of the water.
