Brewer's: Fleet Street

(London). For 200 years after the Conquest London was watered on the west by “the river of Wells,” afterwards called “Fleet dyke, because (Stowe says) it runneth past the Fleete.” In the middle of the city and falling into the Thames was Wellbrooke; on the east side, Langbourne; and in the western suburbs, Oldbourne. Along the Fleete and Oldbourne “ships” used to ply with merchandise. These four, together with the Roding, the Lea, the Ravensbourne, and the Wandle, now serve as sewers to the great metropolis.

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language