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FLEET PRISON

Fleet Prison was a famous London Prison which stood in Farringdon Street, on what was called Fleet Market, from the River Fleet which flowed into the Thames. Its keeper was called the Warden of the Fleet. As far back as the 12th century the Fleet served as a Royal Prison. In the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth I it was used for religious martyrs and the political victims of the Star Chambers. In 1641 it became a place of confinement for debtors and persons committed for contempt of court, and rapidly acquired a notoriety for every kind of brutality and extortion. It was It was burned by Wat Tyler in 1381, at the Great Fire in 1666, and by the Gordon rioters in 1780 and rebuilt several times before being finally abolished in 1842.
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