No. 1178: Fleet Street, EC4
Fleet Street, London, EC4. Photo ©RogerDean 2014
Gaslight and Daylight – George Augustus Sala, 1859:
‘SIR,’ said Samuel Johnson to the Scotch gentleman— ‘sir, let us take a walk down Fleet Street.’
[ And should you be inclined to take a stroll, as suggested by Johnson, be sure to stop at number 184 which houses the Protestant Truth Society. On the wall of the side entrance to the building you’ll find a few broken tiles, as shown in the photo above. These are the remnants of Craig’s Fisheries and Oyster Rooms which occupied not only 184 but also 182 and 183. I have seen photographic evidence of Craig’s existence in the 1880’s and I know that an application was made, in 1890’s, to convert the Rooms into an ‘Automatic Restaurant’ but other than that all I have been able to discover is that Craig’s was busy serving ‘All Fish Hot From 12 To 12’. R.D.]
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