Clock This: Fleet Street (Londonopoly #6)

Sunday, 2 February 2014

Fleet Street (Londonopoly #6)

Fleet Street is the traditional home of the British press, where all the major newspapers were located. The first printing press was established in 1500 by Wynkin de Worde, but by the late 1980s the newspapers had decamped to modern printing presses and office blocks throughout London.

It is also famous for having a barber's shop with the proprietor going by the name of Sweeney Todd - the demon barber of Fleet Street.

Fleet Street gets its name from the Fleet River, one of London's "lost" rivers which lies buried beneath the streets and flows north - south at the eastern end of Fleet Street.

Our first location is 187 Fleet Street, assuming that the legend beneath the clock is correct.

Next stop, a clock with a background view which points to the press heritage of the street. This is the church of St Dunstan-in-the-West.

There has been a clock here since 1671, although the present one dates from 1738. When the old church was demolished in 1830 the clock was sold and removed to the Marquess of Hertford's villa St Dunstan's Lodge. Over one hundred years later it was returned to the church, being officially unveiled on 24 October 1935.

Behind the clock are these two figures which strike the bells.

The clock and its figures are on the east side of the church tower, which a scan be seen has its own clock.

Two doors down is this more modern office building.

And further down the street, this office building with its stopped clock.

The old Daily Telegraph building of 1928 is an architectural gem in a style that the "Guide to the Architecture of London" describes as jazz modern.

The large clock is quite bonkers in its design, and as a result is quite magnificent.