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54 THE GROWTH OF THE CITY
us now would be the
frowning walls of Lon¬
don, and the Westgate
immediately above the
Fleet, while the road
dipped into the valley
below. - There must have
been a bridge here over
the Holborn or Fleet at
a very early time, the
road zigzagging up to
the gate, a little to the
northward of what we
call Newgate. The Fleet
on the right is a wide
tidal marsh, and before
we descend to it we may
possibly perceive the
burnt fragments of a
farmhouse, near to where
—— is now St. Andrew's,
Church. Before entering
the city we should observe that the line of the wall extended along
the precipitous eastern bank of the Fleet, downto the Thames. Very
few, if any, houses or churches would rise above the level of the
ramparts, but if any did so, it would be St. Paul’s, and a little farther
on perhaps St. Martin’s le Grand. Standing outside the gate and
turning southward we should see the wide waters of the Fleet spreading
themselves over what is now the city end of Fleet Street, and so
westward to a knoll of higher ground, where were some remains of
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