Columbia Road Flower Market is one of many markets in Central London; a street flower market

Street market

A street market is an outdoor market such as traditionally held in a market square or in a market town, and often held only on particular days of the week...

, it is located in East London. Columbia Road is a road of Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 shops off the Hackney Road

Hackney Road

Hackney Road is a London arterial route running from Shoreditch Church to Cambridge Heath. It occupies a no mans land in between Bethnal Green and Haggerston...

 in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

London Borough of Tower Hamlets

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...

. The market is open on Sundays only.

Origins

Columbia Market was established in 1869 as a covered food market, by the philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts for 400 stalls. However, a planned railway line (for the delivery of fish) was never built, and in any case traders preferred selling outdoors. Prompted by Charles Dickens, she also built a separate U-shaped building nearby known as Columbia Dwellings, of several storeys, with a three-storey Gothic arch built into the brickwork of the central section. The market closed in 1886, after use as warehouses and small workshops. The building was demolished in 1958, although the remains of railings can be seen in front of the Nursery School. Sivill House

Sivill House

Sivill House is a 76-flat council housing block on Columbia Road in Bethnal Green, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The building has 20-storeys, at a total height of 59 metres....

 and the Dorset Estate replaced the Coutts buildings.

The market was moved to Sunday, by Act of Parliament

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

, in order to accommodate the needs of local Jewish traders. This also provided the opportunity for Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

 and Spitalfields

Old Spitalfields market

Old Spitalfields Market is a covered market in Spitalfields, just outside the City of London. It is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets....

 traders to sell their stock left over from Saturday. The enduring interest and demand for cut flowers and plants amongst people in the East End, was introduced by Huguenot

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

 immigrants (together with a fascination for caged song birds). The pub at the end of the market is called The Birdcage.

The market suffered in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, from rules prioritising food production

Food industry

The food production is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population...

, and went into a long decline. A large civilian shelter, beneath the market, suffered a direct hit by a 50 kg bomb, on the night of Saturday, 7 September 1940, at the height of The Blitz

The Blitz

The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...

. From the 1960s, new rules forced traders to attend regularly, and the market enjoyed a new resurgence with the increasing popularity of gardening programmes.

Modern market

The market is in operation every Sunday from 8 am to 2 pm. Traders arrive from 4 am every Sunday morning to set up their stalls. A wide range of plants, bedding plants, shrubs, bulbs and freshly cut flowers are available at competitive prices. Many of the traders are the second or third generation of their family to sell at the market.

The market also has a number of shops selling bread and cheeses, antiques and garden accessories. There are also a number of outlets selling unusual international edibles, soap, candlesticks and Buddhist artefacts.

Much of Columbia road is part of the Jesus Green Hospital Estate.

The market is popular not only with plant and flower buyers but also with photographers and television companies who regularly film there.

London "Burkers"

Columbia Market was built upon an area known as Novia Scotia Gardens. This had been a brick field, north-east of St Leonard's, Shoreditch

St Leonard's, Shoreditch

St Leonard's, Shoreditch is the ancient parish church of Shoreditch, often known simply as Shoreditch Church. It is located at the intersection of Shoreditch High Street with Hackney Road, within the London Borough of Hackney. The current building dates from about 1740...

, the brick clay had been exhausted and the area begun to be filled in with waste (leystall). Cottages (probably evolving from sheds, serving the gardens), came to be built here, but were undesirable as they remained below ground level, and so were prone to flooding.

In July 1830, John Bishop and Thomas Williams rented no. 3 Nova Scotia Garden, from a Sarah Trueby. Together with Michael Shields, a Covent Garden porter, and James May, also known as Jack Stirabout and Black Eyed Jack, they formed a notorious gang of Resurrection men, stealing freshly buried bodies for sale to anatomists. On 7 November 1831 the suspiciously fresh corpse of a 14 year old boy was delivered, by these men, to the King's College

King's College London

King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...

 School of Anatomy, in the Strand

Strand, London

Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...

. Joseph Sadler Thomas, a superintendent of police, searched the cottages at Nova Scotia Gardens, and found items of clothing in a well in one of the gardens, and also in one of the privies, suggesting multiple murders. The Resurrection men were arrested, and by an extraordinary arrangement, the police opened the premises for viewing, charging 5 shillings. The public carried away the dwelling, piece by piece, as souvenirs. Bishop and Williams were hanged at Newgate

Newgate Prison

Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...

 on 5 December 1831 for the murder. The police had tentatively identified the body as that of Carlo Ferrari, an Italian boy, from Piedmont, but at their trial Bishop and Williams admitted it to be that of a Lincolnshire cattle drover, on his way to 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...

.

By 1840, the area had degenerated into a notorious slum

Slum

A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...

. It is for this reason that Burdett-Coutts purchased the land, and established Columbia Market.

Transport

The market lies some distance from Liverpool Street station

Liverpool Street station

Liverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street, is both a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, England...

 and Bethnal Green tube station

Bethnal Green tube station

Bethnal Green tube station is a station on the Central Line of the London Underground in Bethnal Green, East London. It lies between Liverpool Street and Mile End stations, and in Travelcard Zone 2. The station was opened as part of the long planned Central Line eastern extension on 4 December...

 and Old Street tube station; but is well served by bus routes 26

London Buses route 26

London Buses route 26 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to First Capital.-History:...

, 48 and 55

London Buses route 55

London Buses route 55 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Stagecoach London.-History:...

. From Bethnal Green Road the 8

London Buses route 8

London Buses route 8 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Stagecoach London.-History:...

 and 388 buses serve the market. Shoreditch High Street railway station

Shoreditch High Street railway station

Shoreditch High Street is a railway station in Shoreditch, London. The station is located on Bethnal Green Road close to Shoreditch High Street and is served by London Overground services running on the extended East London Line under the control of the London Rail division of Transport for London...

 is now open, although Hoxton station, on Cremer St, is closer.

Parking restrictions and eager traffic wardens make parking near the market difficult. One solution is to park free of charge on the Hackney side of Hackney Road where traffic wardens do not operate on a Sunday.

External links

• www.columbiaroad.info - Columbia Road Main Site