Smithfield market has yet another big decision hanging over its future. The City of London Corporation recently confirmed that traders will need to move away from the site by 2028.
By Hazel Phillips, Clerkenwell and Islington Guide
Smithfield market has yet another big decision hanging over its future. The City of London Corporation recently confirmed that traders will need to move away from the site by 2028, and not to Dagenham as originally planned.
But, of course, we should remember that Smithfield market – in one form or another – has dominated Clerkenwell for centuries.
Originally it was an open-air market selling live animals. Evidence of this goes back as far as the 12th century with the area known as the ‘smooth field’. The animals, such as cattle and sheep, would be ‘driven’ by drovers to London for possibly hundreds of miles. As London’s population grew – the demand for meat increased as did the area that was built-up – putting huge demands on the place. The meat trade is dangerous and messy, especially as slaughtering went on nearby.
In the 19th century, pressure grew on the City to do something about the crime and filth connected to the market. Charles Dickens campaigned for change and wrote vividly about it in some of his books. One example from Oliver Twist: “The ground was covered nearly ankle deep with filth and mire. A thick steam perpetually rising from the reeking bodies of the cattle.”
Eventually, in the 1850s, the City of London Corporation agreed to move the live meat market somewhere else away from Smithfield. So that left space to build the glorious present-day ironwork ‘Smithfield market’ in the 1860s. It was designed by the City Architect Horace Jones. which, until the move to Barking, is selling meat today.
So that ‘somewhere else’ was away from the City in Copenhagen Fields (west of Caledonian Road), Islington. The City cleared the 30-acre site and built a ‘state of the art’ cattle market with special lairs, modern abattoirs, hotels, pubs – everything a cattle market might need at that time and all beautifully designed by James Bunning, the City’s architect (Horace Jones’ predecessor). No money was spared.
At its heart, they built a clock tower around which were banks, vets, telegraph offices. It housed the market superintendent’s office with a great vantage point of the area. The clock tower has survived and can be visited today. You can join an Islington Guided Walks 75-minute tour climbing the 178 steps, learning about the history of the building, the market, the Caledonian Park and seeing the clock mechanism as you go. At the top you are rewarded with 360ᵒ views right across London and beyond – a real treat.
The next tours are this Saturday 7th December at 11am and 1pm. Find out more and book your place here.
