Fleet Street

Fleet Street was formerly the hub of the British newspaper world. The first printing presses were established here at the end of the 15th century. The first daily newspaper, the "Daily Courant", appeared in 1702. Although the buildings of the various publishing houses, their editorial offices and print rooms are still in existence, they now house insurance companies and brokers. The reason for this was a change in the methods of newspaper production. The introduction of modern technology rendered the buildings superfluous to requirements, and publishers of the "old school" were replaced by hard-headed business people who believed it to be more economic to build new offices and works. Most newspaper publishers now have their headquarters in the newly developed Docklands. Fleet Street or "Street of Ink", as a synonym for the British press, no longer exists.

Fleet Street owes its name to the Fleet brook which originally flowed here and - like all the streams in the old town of that time - did duty as a sewer. It was soon built over.