Spitalfields Market is a traders' market as well as a food and art market located in

Spitalfields Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church ...

, Central London. Traders began operating around 1666, after the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past th ...

, where the market stands today. The Spitalfields regeneration programme that ended in 2005, resulted in two new public spaces – Bishops Square and Crispin Place, which restored several historic streets and resulted in more independent retailers and restaurants. Spitalfields Market is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is surrounded by Lamb Street, Old Spitalfields market, Brushfield Street and Bishops Square. Spitalfields Traders Market overhead view

Spitalfields Traders Market overhead view

History

Wholesale Market

In 1682, King Charles II officially granted John Balch a Royal Charter allowing him to hold a market every Thursday and Saturday in Spital Square. Over time, the market became one of the main fruit and vegetable markets for London - alongside

Covent Garden Market 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 ...

. The reputation of the market encouraged

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bez ...

silk weavers to settle in the area. They were fleeing France, following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Some of their houses are still standing around Fournier Street, which is now a conservation area. In the mid-1700s, Irish weavers also settled in the area following the decline in the Irish linen industry. The growth in the area led to the establishment of Hawksmoor’s Christ Church in 1729, which consecrated

becoming a parish in its own right. After the 1820s,

fell into decline, gaining a reputation as a cheap area in which to live, proving a magnet to numerous waves of immigrants. Jewish refugees filled the area, mainly fleeing

Pogroms in the Russian Empire Pogroms in the Russian Empire (russian: Еврейские погромы в Российской империи) were large-scale, targeted, and repeated anti-Jewish rioting that began in the 19th century. Pogroms began to occur after Imperial Ru ...

, while some were entrepreneurs from the Netherlands. Between the 1880s and 1970s, Spitalfields was one of the largest Jewish communities in England, having more than forty synagogues. By 1876 the market itself had fallen into decline. Recognising the need to improve the market, a former market porter called Robert Horner bought a short lease and built a new market building at a cost of £80,000, which opened in 1893. In 1920, the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

acquired direct control of the Market, and subsequently extended the site. Due to traffic congestion, lack of space for parking lorries, as well as out of date market buildings (e.g. poor

refrigeration The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...

facilities) - the wholesale market was relocated out of the City in the early 1990s. This followed the move of

and

Billingsgate Fish Market Billingsgate Fish Market is located in Canary Wharf in London. It is the United Kingdom's largest inland fish market. It takes its name from Billingsgate, a ward in the south-east corner of the City of London, where the riverside market was origi ...

out of the city centre. The new, purpose built location in

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Rive ...

- named

New Spitalfields Market New Spitalfields Market is a fruit and vegetable market on a site in Leyton, London Borough of Waltham Forest in East London. The market is owned and administrated by the City of London Corporation. The market is Europe's leading horticultural ...

) - opened in May 1991. A market remained on the site however - serving the public rather than trade customers.

Regeneration

By the mid-20th century, most of the Jewish community had left the area and since the 1970s, a Bangladeshi community has been flourishing. New cultures, trades and business now fill the area including the renowned

Brick Lane Brick Lane ( Bengali: ব্রিক লেন) is a street in the East End of London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busies ...

restaurant district. There is still some evidence of the various communities from the past that stand today – a Huguenot church, Methodist chapel, Jewish synagogue, and Muslim mosque amongst new stores, housing, restaurants and markets. In the mid 2000s, the market site was redeveloped. The new development known as Spitalfields, is located within the areas known as Bishops Square, Market Street & Crispin Place, which includes the Spitalfields Traders Market in Crispin Place. Directly adjacent with a seamless boundary and shared covered roof, is Old Spitalfields Market, situated in the Horner Buildings. Spitalfields Market currently is open every day of the week. It hosts various retail brands, street-food stalls, bars and restaurants, and independent traders showcasing handcrafted goods, artwork, fashion, and jewellery. It also hosts public art and events programmes.

Notes

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References

Institute of Historical Research: British HistoryBBC News: £400m Spitalfields project opensBBC News: In Pictures - Spitalfields celebrates French impactBBC News: Spitalfields bows to market pressureThe Financial Times: Spitalfields gets into the mixThe Telegraph: London street markets

External links