London’s historic Smithfield Market meets a new chapter
bloomberg.com
bloomberg.com
For those non-UK readers, Smithfield is the meat market, Billingsgate is the fish market, both of which were in central London many decades ago. Billingsgate ('v2') has moved once already to Canary Wharf, the second part of London's financial district. The Elizabeth Line has been built, partly, to connect Canary Wharf, a privately owned estate in Tower Hamlets (a London borough), to the City of London (a London borough).
The City of London owns the current Billingsgate site (v2, if you will), adjacent to Canary Wharf estate. There's been a bit of competition, friction, jockeying, whatever, between Canary Wharf and the City of London over the years, so this the City of London getting a toe-hold in the area.
The Elizabeth Line looks like it's going to be a huge driver for future London development.
As I understand it Spitalfields, Billingsgate, and Smithfield (Meat) are all moving out to Barking to a purpose built market.
https://news.cityoflondon.gov.uk/wholesale-markets-relocatio...
I lived right near the market on Turnmill Street when I had my first job in London, and used to walk to work in the city past the market in the mornings. The traders would usually be packing up by the time I went past, but it gave a real feeling of the diversity that the London economy has. It being so close to the one of the financial centres of the world really added to that feeling. The smell, the noise, the sights of men running around with large animal parts... it really was something special and interesting.
Now it's going to be yet another set of offices, eateries... So dull compared to what it was.
Smithfields used to be where the discerning drinker went to get a very late (or very early) pint in the local pubs as they had special licenses to cater to the market workers coming off shift. By the time I lived in the city the late licensing rules had been relaxed though.
- there’s going to be a museum there
- keeping a lot of original structures and architecture
- creating more public and pedestrian focused spaces is great
Plus as I understand it this was largely driven by the fact that it no longer makes sense to have a market like this in such a central location, far from major road, rail, and sea freight connections. The new location for the market will combine several other major markets (including Billingsgate, which will have moved twice for this sort of reason) [0].
I’ll be sad to see it go, I walk past the market at least weekly, but I think it’s probably a positive change overall.
[0] https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/plans-smithfield-bill...
Its hard to go against the grain of the scale, and dullness, of modern industrial food production. Especially when real estate development is at play at the same time also.
I hope the Dagenham markets will be as exciting and interesting a place to go, but fully expect them to be about as soulless as 'New Covent Garden'
They should have done everything possible to reverse the trend and keep it a meat market. Commerce keeps a place alive, people working and doing stuff.
> ...channeling meat trucks through the congested heart of London does seem like a habit from another era.
Why? Turning cities inside out isn't an era I'd want to live in. London should be braver rather than doing what every other city in the world is doing.
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780711031449/Londons-Railways-Ai...
It shows major railway stations from above. As the photos were taken long ago in the 50s and 60s they reveal how freight yards took up most of the real estate around stations. For example, Kings X had a yard extending for a large area behind it, which is now the redeveloped area, the "coal yard", etc.
By this way, goods inc meat made their deep into the heart of cities. Presumably they then made their way to market via wagons, horse and cart or motorised. Unless the rail yard was in the market like in Smithfield!
I’d sort of grimly expect that there’d be a rush to build tall office blocks all around the station, the sour taste of sweet progress.
Also it is just awkward to get to Smithfield from Farringdon, the station exit is a fair walk around a block, I had thought they could have opened station access directly to Smithfield.
You can walk to Smithfield from the Barbican, Chancery Lane, St Pauls, Blackfriars, Moorgate in less than 15 mins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithfield,_London
Which for several hundred years had held the Bartholomew Fair, a seeming high point of the year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_Fair
My Grandfather's grandfather was born close by 10 years earlier, and it is strange to think he would have witnessed it, although by that point I imagine it had greatly faded from its glory.