Exmouth Market is a semi-

pedestrianised street Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redisco ...

in the

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in Inner London. Whilst the majority of the district is located in north London, the borough also includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington has ...

, and the location of an outdoor street market of 32 stalls.

History

Exmouth Market draws its name from the Exmouth Arms Pub that is centrally situated in the street. The area has been a market place since the 1890s and a number of the street's buildings date from the 19th century. Also centrally located on the block of the street opposite the Exmouth Arms is the church of

Our Most Holy Redeemer Our Most Holy Redeemer is a late 19th-century church in Clerkenwell, London, England, by the architect John Dando Sedding. It is an Anglo-Catholic church in the Diocese of London of the Church of England. It is at the junction of Exmouth Mar ...

, Clerkenwell, built in 1887 on the site of the

Spa Fields Spa Fields is a park and its surrounding area in the London Borough of Islington, bordering Finsbury and Clerkenwell. Historically it is known for the Spa Fields riots of 1816 and an Owenite community which existed there between 1821 and 1824. The ...

Chapel. The church is London's only Italian

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

-style church. The south-east corner of the street was the site for the London Spa which dates back to 1730 and is one of Clerkenwell's most famous resorts. It was rebuilt several times and called the London Spa until 2002. It is now known as

1990s: Rehabilitation

The street and surrounding area had previously held a reputation as a run down and seedy part of Central London. Since the mid-to-late nineties the street has undergone a steady regeneration, and Exmouth Market is now home to a large number of restaurants, cafes and bars, as well as independent book, record and gift shops, a range of design and architecture companies, and Eland Publishing, the travel literature imprint. A distinguishing feature of the area is that nearly every restaurant, cafe and bar in the street offer outside seating and cover, which is uncommon for suburban London outside of High Street areas – this creates a

sidewalk cafe The SideWalk Cafe was a music venue and restaurant/cafe in East Village, New York City founded in 1985. It became a known venue for its underground music scene, and in particular, was known as being the center for Anti-folk in the United Stat ...

ambiance.

Street market

In autumn 2006, the Exmouth Market Trader's association decided to reinstate Exmouth Market's

street market A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

. It costs £35 a week to occupy land the size of a regular stall. Stallholders include local and well-known food companies and producers, as well as jewellery and gifts from East London designers. The market was originally held every Friday (between 11–6) and Saturday (between 9–4) (as indicated on a banner), but hours have changed, and it now runs during weekdays only (including Thursday and Friday): food stalls run primarily 11–2.

Film

The street was used for location shooting for

Madonna's Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

directorial debut, '' Filth and Wisdom'' and also for ''

A Private Function ''A Private Function'' is a 1984 British comedy film starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. The film was predominantly filmed in Ilkley, and Ben Rhydding in West Yorkshire. The film was also screened in the section of Un Certain Regard at the ...

''.

References

External links

Exmouth Market Official Website
{{Markets in London Retail markets in London Streets in the London Borough of Islington