The location of a tavern dating from the 17th century, this building is one of the few in the neighborhood that survived the Great Fire of London in 1666; even rarer, it is still intact across from Chancery Lane in front the Temple Round Church.
This photo shows the building as Moore would have known it. Today it is the restored home of Prince Henry’s Room.
The building’s history is outlined in No. 17 Fleet Street (London: Greater London Council, 1967). In the spring of 1881 when Moore briefly lived there trying to break into creative writing and journalism, it was the premises of Carter John, an actual barber of Fleet Street who presumably let rooms in the upper floors.
The fictional Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, was situated at No. 186.
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