View of the Stocks Market London, Joseph Nickolls

Stocks Market was a market in central London operating between 1282 and 1737 and for centuries was London's main retail meat and produce market. The market was located to the east of the

Walbrook Walbrook is a City ward and a minor street in its vicinity. The ward is named after a river of the same name. The ward of Walbrook contains two of the City's most notable landmarks: the Bank of England and the Mansion House. The street runs ...

in the heart of 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 fr ...

. It was demolished to make way for the building of the Mansion House on the same site.

History

Before the Stocks Market opened, foodstuffs were sold at stalls in

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...

. There was concern that waste from these stalls would disrupt King Edward I's ceremonial entry into London in 1274, and the butchers' and fishmongers' stalls were moved to the site of the future Stocks Market. Stocks Market was formally established in 1282 by Henry le Walleis, the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

. It was rebuilt on the same site in 1410–1411. The market was named after "the only fixed pair of

stocks Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...

in the city" which were used to punish offenders. By 1345, Cheapside was again thronged with butchers' and fishmongers' stall on market days, obstructing the streets. The butchers and fishmongers were required to move to Stocks Market and the poultrymen to adjoining shops or to

Leadenhall Market Leadenhall Market is a covered market in London, located on Gracechurch Street but with vehicular access also available via Whittington Avenue to the north and Lime Street to the south and east, and additional pedestrian access via a number of ...

. By 1359, Stocks Market had 71 'covered plots' in four rows for the sale of meat and fish, and 27 more in covered areas along the outer walls. The fruit and vegetable stalls had moved too an area at

St Paul's Churchyard St Paul's Churchyard is an area immediately around St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. It included St Paul's Cross and Paternoster Row. It became one of the principal marketplaces in London. St Paul's Cross was an open-air pulpit from whic ...

. From 1400, the market was under the control of the Wardens of

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

, who let stalls to butchers and fishmongers for the term of their life. Funds raised from rents were used for the maintenance of the bridge. For centuries, Stocks Market was London's largest retail meat and produce market. Hygiene standards are thought to have been better at Stocks Market than elsewhere, due to the availability of water and drainage from the

that ran alongside and also due to the management of the London Bridge wardens. In the fifteenth century there were public latrines in the market which were flushed with running water from the Walbrook. By 1543, the market had 25 stalls for fishmongers, 18 stalls for butchers and 16 chambers above, rented to various traders. Poultry sellers and sellers of dairy produce congregated in the streets leading to Stocks Market, including Milk Street and

Poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, a ...

. The market occupied a substantial piece of land in central London; , excluding waste land to the east and west sides, and the building was in height. Stocks Market was destroyed in 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 the ...

in 1666 and then rebuilt. Adjoining this spot stood The Stocks Market 1282 - 1737

By the 1730s the area had become a prestigious location. The

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

and the Royal Exchange had been built nearby, and the site was chosen for the Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. The Stocks Market buildings were demolished in 1737 and the market was moved to Fleet ditch and renamed the

Fleet Market The Fleet Market was a London 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. Work began in 1734 to ...

. In 1829, Fleet Market was rebuilt in Farringdon Street. Following its relocation, the market changed its character; whereas Stocks Market was known as a "fish and flesh" market, its replacement primarily sold fruit, herbs and roots.Timbs, J., ''Curiosities of London: Exhibiting the Most Rare and Remarkable Objects of Interest in the Metropolis'', D. Bogue, 1855, p. 501; ''A New View of London: Or a Ample Account of that City in Two Volumes, Or Eight Sections,'' Vols 1–2, Chiswell, Nicholson and Knaplock, 1708, p.79 The displacement of Stocks Market and its relocation to a site further away from the city centre, represented a major loss for London's working classes, who worked long hours and had little time to attend markets situated away from central London. The demise of Stocks Market marked a period of rapid decline for London's retail markets. Wholesale markets, however, continued to prosper and informal, unregulated markets sprang up to fill the gap in food distribution. The number of

costermonger A costermonger, coster, or costard is a street seller of fruit and vegetables in British towns. The term is derived from the words ''costard'' (a medieval variety of apple) and ''monger'' (seller), and later came to be used to describe hawkers i ...

s, hawkers and other types of itinerant street vendors increased substantially following the demise of the Stocks Market.

Literary references

The diarist

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

recorded a visit Stocks Market. In 1675 a statue of King Charles II mounted on a horse and trampling on

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

was erected at the market. The statue was the subject of a satirical poem by

Andrew Marvell Andrew Marvell (; 31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend ...

(1621–1678).

History

Literary references

See also

References

Further reading