Billingsgate Fish Market
Encyclopedia
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Billingsgate Fish Market is the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's largest inland fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
. It takes its name from Billingsgate
Billingsgate
Billingsgate is a small ward in the south-east of the City of London, lying on the north bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge...
, a ward in the south-east of the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, where the riverside market was originally established. In its original location in the 19th century, Billingsgate was the largest fish market in the world.
Billingsgate Wharf, close to Lower Thames Street, became the centre of a fish market during the 16th and 17th centuries, but did not become formally established until an Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
in 1699. In 1849, the fish market was moved off the streets into its own riverside building, designed by J.B. Bunning and built by John Jay, which was demolished circa 1873 and replaced by an arcaded market hall (designed by City architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Sir Horace Jones) and built by John Mowlem & Co.
Mowlem
Mowlem was one of the largest construction and civil engineering companies in the United Kingdom. Carillion bought the firm in 2006.-History:Founded by John Mowlem in 1822, the company was awarded a Royal Warrant in 1902 and went public on the London Stock Exchange in 1924. It acquired SGB Group in...
in 1875. This building, known as Old Billingsgate Market
Old Billingsgate Market
Old Billingsgate Market is the name given to what is now a hospitality and events venue in the City of London, England, based in the Victorian building that was formerly Billingsgate Fish Market....
, is now used as a corporate events venue.
In 1982, the fish market was relocated to a new 13-acre (53,000 m²) building complex close to Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
in Docklands. Most of the fish sold through the market now arrives there by road, from ports as far afield as Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
and Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. As of 2005, a review of the London wholesale markets was underway which may lead to the closure of Billingsgate (and the Smithfield
Smithfield, London
Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...
meat market), as it is considered by some that it would be better to have a smaller number of markets all selling a full range of fresh produce, rather than separate specialist markets.
The infamously coarse language of London fishmongers made "Billingsgate" a byword for crude or vulgar language. One of its earliest uses can be seen in a 1577 chronicle by Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
, where the writer makes reference to the foul tongues of Billingsgate oyster-wives.
The market is depicted during Tudor times
Tudor London
Henry Tudor, who seized the English throne as Henry VII in 1485, and married Elizabeth of York, thus putting an end to the Wars of the Roses, was a resolute and efficient monarch that centralised political power on the crown...
in Rosemary Sutcliff
Rosemary Sutcliff
Rosemary Sutcliff CBE was a British novelist, and writer for children, best known as a writer of historical fiction and children's literature. Although she was primarily a children's author, the quality and depth of her writing also appeals to adults; Sutcliff herself once commented that she wrote...
's 1951 children's historical novel The Armourer's House
The Armourer's House
The Armourer's House is a children's historical novel by Rosemary Sutcliff and first published in 1951.It is set primarily in London during the reign of King Henry VIII...
.
Billingsgate Market is open from Tuesday to Saturday. Trading commences at 0500hrs and finishes at 0830hrs. Security for the market is provided by the Market Constabulary
City of London market constabularies
The City of London market constabularies are three small constabularies responsible for security at Billingsgate, New Spitalfields and Smithfield markets run by the City of London Corporation.-See also:*Liverpool Markets Police*Birmingham Market Police...
.
External links
- Official Billingsgate Market page from the City of London Corporation website
- Old official page