Montfichet's Tower

Today the River Fleet has been reduced to a trickle in a culvert under New Bridge Street that emerges under Blackfriars Bridge, but before the development of London it was the biggest river in the area, after the Thames. It formed the western boundary of the Roman city of London and the strategic importance of the junction of the Fleet and the Thames means that the area was probably fortified from early times. The Normans reinforced the area by building two castles inside the Roman walls that ran north–south, giving their name to the street of Old Bailey and then roughly following the modern Blackfriars Lane down to the Thames. Baynard's Castle was built where the wall met the river…

Little is known about the construction of Montfichet's Tower. The first documentary evidence is a reference to the lord of Montfichet's Tower in a charter of c1136 in relation to river rights. The tower was probably built in the late 11th century; The 16th-century historian John Stow ascribes construction to a Baron of Mountfichet, who came to England during the Norman ConquestMontfiquet is a village in Normandy between Bayeux and Saint-Lô. The family built Stansted Mountfitchet Castle at Stansted Mountfitchet, which has now been recreated as a tourist attraction; the two castles are easily confused, particularly given the variable spelling of Montfichet/Mountfitchet in documents. The last…