New Fish Street

roseAgas Map
The Monument to the Great Fire of London, which sits at the juncture between Monument Street and a truncated New Fish Street (now known as Fish Street Hill). Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. For more information about the monument and its ongoing restoration, see The Monument
The Monument to the Great Fire of London, which sits at the juncture between Monument Street and a truncated New Fish Street (now known as Fish Street Hill). Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. For more information about the monument and its ongoing restoration, see The Monument
New Fish Street (also known in the seventeenth century as Bridge Street) ran north-south from London Bridge at the south to the intersection of Eastcheap, Gracechurch Street, and Little Eastcheap in the north (Harben; BHO). At the time, it was the main thoroughfare to London Bridge (Sugden 191). It ran on the boundary between Bridge Within Ward on the west and Billingsgate Ward on the east. It is labelled on the Agas map as New Fyſhe ſtreate. Variant spellings include Street of London Bridge, Brigestret, Brugestret, and Newfishstrete (Harben; BHO).
Diarist Samuel Pepys records that he heard of the fire burning down all Fish Street (Pepys 02 September 1666). Although damaged in the fire, New Fish Street still exists in modern London (now known as Fish Street Hill). It has been greatly shortened, now running between Thames Street and Monument Street, where at this junction sits the Monument to the Great Fire of London (also known as The Monument).
Drawing of New Fish Street by Hugh Alley. Image courtesy of the Folger Digital Image Collection.
Drawing of New Fish Street by Hugh Alley. Image courtesy of the Folger Digital Image Collection.

References