The rebirth of Fleet Street

Posted: September 7, 2025

THE  redoubtable PIERS NICHOLSON, creator and protector of the Fleet St Heritage Project, has announced that a new temporary exhibition will be on display from September 13-21 during Open House Week at the Fleet Street Heritage Wall, at the corner of Fleet Street and Bouverie Street, London, EC4. Preparations for the installation are pictured.

For nearly 300 years, Fleet Street was dominated by the newspaper industry. Then in 1980 came the era of lawyers and financiers. The past ten years have seen them moving out and developers moving in. In the next three to five years, 20,000 new workers and students will move in, and a number of new small businesses will spring up to serve their everyday needs.

The Heritage Wall has 63 panels giving succinct summaries of the people, their ideas, the places and monuments which celebrate this iconic area of Fleet Street. The original exhibition started with the opening of the Fleet Street Heritage Sundial in 2021, and continued with the production of 98 Heritage Pages on a wide range of historical matters of interest in the area.

Piers added: “We have been given planning permission by the City of London to put up 68 of the panels underneath the sundial – they will be all-weather ceramics. The permission came too late for the Open House, so we have put up a temporary exhibition. We hope be able to complete the permanent exhibition early in the NewYear.” The permanent exhibition will be accessible to people with mobility, eyesight and other limitations. When completed, it will be one of the most inclusive public exhibitions available anywhere.