The neighbourhood stretches from its northern boundary at Holborn to Fleet Street in the south. The western boundary is defined by Fetter and New Fetter Lane, and the buildings of Farringdon Street to the east. Shoe Lane is another north-south thoroughfare and is a major artery with the offices of companies like Lloyds and Deloitte. The area overall is far more modern than the Chancery Lane area, with glass office buildings being particularly prominant. The area is dominated by legal practices, including big names such as Deloitte LLP. At the centre of these offices is New Street Square, a less well-known, but important, hub in the City, which serves the ‘mid-town’ of the area – in between High Holborn and Fleet Street. To the south, the area is a little older, with buildings such as St. Andrew Holborn Church as well as Dr. Johnson’s House. Lanes also criss-cross the area- such as Red Lion Court and Crane Court.

The tributaries (alleyways) branching off Fleet Street include Crane Court, Johnson’s Court and Bolt Court. They have been the site of many institutions, which have come and gone, such as the Royal Society, which moved from Gresham College in 1710, and later moved away to Somerset House in 1782. During the removal of the society, amongst the things catalogued were ‘tortoises, when turned on their backs, will sometimes fetch deep sighs and shed abundance of tears.’, a bone supposedly from a mermaid’s head, a leg bone of a Syrian elephant, a mountain cabbage 300 feet high, and so on.

Dr. Samuel Johnson was born in 1709 in Staffordshire. The son of a bookseller, he would become one of the most famous literary figures of the 18th century, famously compiling “A Dictionary of the English Language”. He was beset by disease for most of his life, and his education at Oxford was cut short due to the fact that his parents could not afford the fees. He moved to London later in life and gained critical acclaim with his poems. He would live a lot of his life in financial difficulty, which was eased by a pension from King George III in 1762, which allowed him to travel and talk more – he was well known for having a robust character, allowing for challenging and hilarious conversations. It is he who famously said that ‘when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life’.

Dr. Johnson’s House is a Grade-I listed townhouse, today a museum to the famous writer. Built towards the end of the 1600s by a wool merchant, it was part of a development at Gough Square, of which it is the only surviving building. It still retains many of the period’s features today, including coal holes and the original door handles. Dr. Johnson lived in the house for a period of time; it was here where he would start to work on his Dictionary. He left the house in 1759, after which it went through a variety of uses, including a printers’ studio and as a bed and breakfast, before being saved and restored by Cecil Harmsworth, a Liberal MP. There were a few fires which occurred at the house during the Blitz, but all were put out in time.

The area is quite built up, with limited green spaces around. However, there are numerous courtyards and squares, which provide places for recreation, if not picnics. While increased development is set to bring in traffic, particularly around Shoe Lane, much of the area is projected to retain its secluded character.

The area is also subjected to an improvement scheme (the Shoe Lane Quarter improvement scheme), in anticipation of the increased pedestrian traffic the Elizabeth line will bring in from nearby Farringdon. The area has therefore been subject to intense interest from investors, with Goldman Sachs London head office recently completed and occupying the space between 25 Shoe Lane and 70 Farringdon Road. Looking forward, planning has been approved for a large new 21-storey office development at 120 Fleet Street. This sets a new height president in the area, although the main Fleet Street facade will only stand at 5 floors, with the rest of the building slowly rising up behind as the many terraces stack on top of one another. The scheme by architect Bjarke Ingels Group also includes the restoration of the neighbouring Daily Express building as well as public roof gardens.