[3] In turn John Nelson in his The History, Topography, and Antiquities of the Parish of St. Mary Islington of 1811 linked a supposed Roman army camp found under some nearby brick fields with the site of Boudica's final battle, based only on his comparison of the local topography with the scant description of the battlefield supplied by the near-contemporary historian Tacitus.

[6] The Fagswell Brook (also spelled Faggeswell) was a tributary that joined the Fleet from the east and partially formed the northern boundary of the City of London.

In 1603, the historian John Stow described its demise: Fagges Well, neare unto Smithfield by the Charterhouse, now lately dammed up.

It can also be heard through a grid in the centre of Charterhouse Street, where it joins Farringdon Road (on the Smithfield side of the junction).

[12] In Roman times, the Fleet was a major river, with its estuary possibly containing the oldest tidal mill in the world.

[14] The small lane at the south-west end of New Bridge Street is called Watergate because it was the river entrance to Bridewell Palace.

In 1728 Alexander Pope wrote in his Dunciad, "To where Fleet-ditch with disemboguing streams / Rolls the large tribute of dead dogs to Thames / The king of dykes!

Newcastle Close and Old Seacoal Lane (now just short alleyways off Farringdon Street) recall the wharves that used to line this canal, especially used by the coastal coal trade from the north-east of England.

The upper canal, unpopular and unused, was from 1737 enclosed between Holborn and Ludgate Circus to form the "Fleet Market".

[16] The archive has been used extensively by researchers, historians and publishers to provide images and contemporary descriptions of the 19th-century Fleet during the period when it was undergoing significant change.

Sweepings from Butchers Stalls, Dung, Guts and Blood, Drown'd Puppies, stinking Sprats, all drench'd in Mud, Dead Cats and Turnip-Tops come tumbling down the Flood.