There has been a livestock market on this site in the City of London for almost 1000 years. By the end of the 18th cent the number of animals being brought to London's Smithfield Livestock Market was causing havoc in the local streets and so by 1852 it was decided by Act of Parliament that the livestock market be relocated to the North of London. Immediately plans were put into operation to develop a new market on this site specialising in cut meat.
Smithfield reached its heydey during the pre war period as the centre for the meat trade of the British Empire. The market and its related businesses were huge employers preparing, smoking, butchering and selling. In the 1990s the market was modernised and upgraded but that did not detract from the beauty of the original ornate cast iron structure.
The market is open from 2am so by mid morning all the selling has ceased and it looks deserted.
I love that old ironwork in buildings.
ReplyDeleteDo they still use it as a meat market, it looks empty in the photo's
ReplyDeleteTo think that a thousand years of livestock passed through that market. Wow! :-)
ReplyDeletenice architecture :)
ReplyDeleteA good example of how a functional building can be very beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYou always have the most informative and fascinating posts ~ Great photos!
ReplyDeleteHappy Week to you ~ ^_^
That's a nice-looking market. One thousand years of history there, that's incredible!
ReplyDeleteVery impressive interior shots.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting piece of history and some terrific shots.
ReplyDeleteDiana
That is a fantastic building for the market.
ReplyDeleteThat's an impressive structure!
ReplyDeleteLovely ironwork!
ReplyDeletevery nice building.
ReplyDeleteI love how much attention was paid to even the smallest details. Lovely pictures.
ReplyDeleteHello, what a lovely building. It seem too impressive to be a livestock market. Great post, thanks for sharing. Happy Tuesday, enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine why they opened so early? It is a beautiful ornate building.
ReplyDeleteWow---what a gorgeous building.. Glad --when they renovated it--that they kept the original beauty.... GORGEOUS.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Betsy
Such lovely and unusual colors in the ironworks. It's wonderful that it is still in use and kept up so well.
ReplyDeleteI love the look of that cast iron. Do you ever get there early enough to shop or is it wholesale only?
ReplyDeleteI love the cast iron; would never imagine it to be a livestock market.
ReplyDeleteSuch an interesting post!
ReplyDeleteThank You~
I love all that intricate iron work - some suburbs here have verandas with similar iron work on them - and its real selling point.
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
That looks a bit like the the old cattle market building in Brussels also in iron cast, which today is used as a general market. No lifestock anymore !
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful building - all the ironwork and the lovely paint colours. A modern building for butchery would be just a refrigerated box. I've never been to Smithfield Market, but I recognise those iron 'brackets' at the ceiling level from an exercise in one of my embroidery books!
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