The River Fleet from King’s Cross to Farringdon

This walk traces the route of the now-subterranean River Fleet, which also marks the border between today’s Camden and Islington boroughs. ‘Beating the Bounds’ around the borders between parishes, land ownerships and similar is an ancient tradition, where the boundary was literally paced out and marked with stones each year. Our route also explores nearby signs of previous boundaries of parishes, vestries, water conduits and historic landowners.
Along the way, we’ll see varied architecture from pretty Georgian and Victorian terraces to old burial grounds, narrow passages that were once slums and restored industrial buildings; see if we can spot historic boundary markers; meet mediaeval monks, Tudor and Victorian philanthropists, a dynasty of 19C architects and builders; and hear of lost wells and pleasure gardens.