Farringdon Market
Encyclopedia
Farringdon Market was a market erected in 1829 to replace the Fleet Market
, which had been cleared for the widening of Farringdon Street and Farringdon Road
. The market was between Farringdon Street east and Shoe Lane west, north of Stonecutter Street, in the City of London
ward of Farringdon Without
.
The market covered 1.5 acre (0.00607029 km²) and cost about £250,000. On 20 November 1829, the market opened and was described in a contemporary account: "It forms a handsome and elevated quadrangle, of 232 feet by 150 feet. The purchase of the ground, and the buildings which stood thereon, is estimated in round numbers at £200,000; the building of the market, including paviours' accounts, &c., is stated at £80,000. The avenue under which are the shops of the dealers, and which extends round three sides of the building, is 25 feet high, to what are technically termed the tie-beams, with ventilators ranged at equal distances. … In the centre of the roof of the principal avenue a turret and clock have been placed. … The chief entrance to the market is by two gates, for wagons, &c., in Stonecutter Street, which has been made double its former width, and two smaller ones for footpassengers; besides these, on each side of the quadrangle, massive oak doors are to be thrown open, from morning till the close of public business."
The market was not successful, and at a meeting of the Court of Common Council, on 29 June 1874, the takings were described as not averaging more than £225 per annum over the preceding five years. The market required improvement and its approach was along the steep sides of the Holborn valley — the former location of the River Fleet
. The market also faced stiff competition from Borough Market
and Covent Garden
. The Corporation decided that the market would be relocated to a new fruit and vegetable hall at nearby Smithfield
between 1879 and 1883.
Henry Mayhew
visited the market one November morning. The poor, he says, were there, in every style of rags, laying in the necessary stock for their trade [of selling watercress in the streets]. "As the morning twilight drew on, the paved court was crowded with customers. The sheds and shops at the end of the market grew every moment more distinct, and a railway van, laden with carrots, came rumbling into the yard. The pigeons, too, began to fly into the sheds, or walk about the paving-stones, and the gas-man came round with his ladder to turn out the lamps. Then every one was pushing about, the children crying as their naked feet were trodden upon, and the women hurrying off with their baskets or shawls filled with cresses, and the bunch of rushes in their hands. In one corner of the market, busily tying up their bunches, were three or four girls, seated on the stones, with their legs curled up under them, and the ground near them was green with the leaves they had thrown away. A saleswoman, seeing me looking at the group, said, 'Ah, you should come here of a summer's morning, and then you'd see 'em, sitting tying up, young and old, upwards of a hundred poor things, as thick as crows in a ploughed field.'"
Fleet Market
The Fleet Market was a market erected in 1736 on the newly culverted River Fleet. The market was located approximately where the modern Farringdon Street stands today, to the west of the Smithfield livestock market....
, which had been cleared for the widening of Farringdon Street and Farringdon Road
Farringdon Road
Farringdon Road is a road in Clerkenwell, Central London. Its construction, which took almost 20 years between the 1840s and the 1860s, is considered one of the greatest urban engineering achievements of the nineteenth century...
. The market was between Farringdon Street east and Shoe Lane west, north of Stonecutter Street, in 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...
ward of Farringdon Without
Farringdon Without
Farringdon Without is a Ward in the City of London, England. The Ward covers the western fringes of the City, including the Middle Temple, Inner Temple, Smithfield Market and St Bartholomew's Hospital, as well as the area east of Chancery Lane...
.
The market covered 1.5 acre (0.00607029 km²) and cost about £250,000. On 20 November 1829, the market opened and was described in a contemporary account: "It forms a handsome and elevated quadrangle, of 232 feet by 150 feet. The purchase of the ground, and the buildings which stood thereon, is estimated in round numbers at £200,000; the building of the market, including paviours' accounts, &c., is stated at £80,000. The avenue under which are the shops of the dealers, and which extends round three sides of the building, is 25 feet high, to what are technically termed the tie-beams, with ventilators ranged at equal distances. … In the centre of the roof of the principal avenue a turret and clock have been placed. … The chief entrance to the market is by two gates, for wagons, &c., in Stonecutter Street, which has been made double its former width, and two smaller ones for footpassengers; besides these, on each side of the quadrangle, massive oak doors are to be thrown open, from morning till the close of public business."
The market was not successful, and at a meeting of the Court of Common Council, on 29 June 1874, the takings were described as not averaging more than £225 per annum over the preceding five years. The market required improvement and its approach was along the steep sides of the Holborn valley — the former location of the River Fleet
River Fleet
The River Fleet is the largest of London's subterranean rivers. Its two headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath; each is now dammed into a series of ponds made in the 18th century, the Hampstead Ponds and the Highgate Ponds. At the south edge of Hampstead Heath these two streams flow...
. The market also faced stiff competition from Borough Market
Borough Market
Borough Market is a wholesale and retail food market in Southwark, London, England. It is one of the largest food markets in London, and sells a large variety of foods from all over the world.-Information and History:...
and 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...
. The Corporation decided that the market would be relocated to a new fruit and vegetable hall at nearby 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...
between 1879 and 1883.
Henry Mayhew
Henry Mayhew
Henry Mayhew was an English social researcher, journalist, playwright and advocate of reform. He was one of the two founders of the satirical and humorous magazine Punch, and the magazine's joint-editor, with Mark Lemon, in its early days...
visited the market one November morning. The poor, he says, were there, in every style of rags, laying in the necessary stock for their trade [of selling watercress in the streets]. "As the morning twilight drew on, the paved court was crowded with customers. The sheds and shops at the end of the market grew every moment more distinct, and a railway van, laden with carrots, came rumbling into the yard. The pigeons, too, began to fly into the sheds, or walk about the paving-stones, and the gas-man came round with his ladder to turn out the lamps. Then every one was pushing about, the children crying as their naked feet were trodden upon, and the women hurrying off with their baskets or shawls filled with cresses, and the bunch of rushes in their hands. In one corner of the market, busily tying up their bunches, were three or four girls, seated on the stones, with their legs curled up under them, and the ground near them was green with the leaves they had thrown away. A saleswoman, seeing me looking at the group, said, 'Ah, you should come here of a summer's morning, and then you'd see 'em, sitting tying up, young and old, upwards of a hundred poor things, as thick as crows in a ploughed field.'"
External links
- Of Watercress Selling in Farringdon Market (Victorian London)