Hen and Chicken Court

Hen and Chicken Court is a dead-end alley off London's Fleet Street, presumably named after an inn or public house that once stood there. It mainly consists of two parts: a courtyard-like cul-de-sac and a narrow alleyway leading to it, which makes it hard to notice from the street.

All in all, there isn't much to see here, save for a plaque on the ground commemorating the former presence of the Sheffield Daily Telegraph, which once had an office here, a testament to Fleet Street's erstwhile status as the hub of British journalism. But if you're an enthusiast of classic urban legends, this site may be of some interest to you.

Fleet Street, of course, is home to the legend of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber. First introduced in the 1840s penny-dreadful serial The String of Pearls and later popularized by the Stephen Sondheim musical, the character is purely fictional, though there are several claims about his historicity.

According to popular lore, Sweeney Todd had his cut-throat barbershop at 186 Fleet Street, just next to St Dunstan-in-the-West. This address corresponds to the location of Hen and Chicken Court, which seems to suggest that this dead end is a much darker site than it appears.