Is Smithfield and Billingsgate historic London markets to close after over 800 years?
The markets have been granted a stay of execution until 2028. In the meantime, the corporation has said it is offering compensation to Smithfield and Billingsgate traders and is helping them find new locations, but is no longer planning to build a joint replacement site.
Is the Smithfield and Billingsgate market closing?
The markets will continue trading in their current locations until 2028, but the closure will mark an end to centuries of meat and fish trading in the city.
The City of London and Smithfield traders have come to an agreement for the market to move to a 'New Smithfield' which will be 'within the M25'. Traders will move after the historic market in Farringdon closes in 2028.
Are Smithfield meat market and Billingsgate fish market set to close in 2028?
The study was commissioned by the City of London Corporation to assess the impacts of the proposed move. Traders will remain at Smithfield and Billingsgate until at least 2028, with financial support to move to new locations of their choosing.
Are Smithfield and Billingsgate iconic London markets face closure after almost 900 years?
After more than 850 years of trading, both historic markets were facing closure. In 2022 it was announced that Billingsgate and Smithfield, two of London's oldest markets, for fish and meat respectively, would be leaving the city centre and moving further east to a £1 billion, 42-acre development in Dagenham.
Historic London Markets To Close: Smithfield & Billingsgate Could Shut After Centuries Of Trading
Why are they closing the billingsgate market?
Now, we learn that the two markets will neither stay nor move, but be wound up entirely. The decision was made after inflation and rising construction costs made the Dagenham move unviable. Just like that, two of the oldest trading organisations in the world will cease to exist.
If the plans proceed, the Smithfield site will become home to the new London Museum, while the land at Canary Wharf that will be unlocked by relocating Billingsgate could provide around 2,000 new homes, it said.
Billingsgate's site near Canary Wharf is set to be transformed into some 4,000 new homes; meanwhile, Smithfield is set to be regenerated into a “cultural and commercial hub” to accompany the new London Museum, set to open next year in a once-abandoned section of the market.
Smithfield was almost a city within a city – and one with its own hours. To give customers time to buy and prepare their meat for sale the same day, the market opened at night.
Then known as Shuanghui Group, WH Group purchased Smithfield Foods in 2013 for $4.72 billion. It was the largest Chinese acquisition of an American company to date.
Smithfield Market is one of the oldest markets in London, primarily known for livestock and meat trading. However, it is not specifically a cloth market. The oldest cloth market in London is generally considered to be the 'Cloth Fair' which was established in the 12th century. Therefore, the statement is false.
Is Smithfield meat market operating for 900 years in London to close after vote?
End of an era: Historic 900-year-old London meat market faces the chop by 2028. The UK local authority that manages London's “Square Mile” financial district on Tuesday voted to close the city's historic wholesale meat market from 2028, ending trading dating back to the 1100s.
The freehold owner of the site is the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, but the City of London Corporation still runs the market; they pay an annual ground rent stipulated in an agreement between the two councils as "the gift of one fish".
Farewell to the original Billingsgate fish market, 1982. On the eve of the closure of old Billingsgate in 1982, the Observer took a valedictory tour of the fish market. Things had changed since the market opened in 1876, built on the site of a former Saxon port.
Anyone can buy meat, poultry and provisions at Smithfield. It is open to the public by Charter: walk through the Market, look around, talk to the salesmen on the front of the stalls.
What is the future of the Smithfield Billingsgate market?
The markets will continue at Smithfield and Billingsgate until at least 2028, giving ample time for traders to plan and execute a smooth transition to new market sites.
Jason Holland. Billingsgate fish market – which is the oldest fish market in the U.K. capital of London and what was once the world's largest fish market – is set to close in 2028 after the City of London Corporation recently decided to withdraw its support.
The announcement by the City of London Corporation in November that Smithfield market is to close after almost 900 years of trading has been met with surprise and dismay. Many Londoners fear Smithfield's special sense of place will be lost for good as a result.
Billingsgate fish market is where buyers from the best restaurants and fishmongers in London and the United Kingdom source their fish and seafood. Although it is a professional fish market, it's also open to the general public.
The City of London Corporation has agreed to stop running Smithfield and Billingsgate markets and pay compensation to traders as it looks to shut down the sites.
Smithfield Market is the largest wholesale meat market in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. Located within the Square Mile of the City of London it is housed in two Grade-II listed buildings.
Still, the news this week that Smithfield will close — its owner, the City of London Corporation, killed a plan to move the market to a new site in East London — came as something of a jolt to him.
The City Guides run walking tours of Smithfield for members of the public on a monthly basis. Hear how Smithfield meat market has changed throughout its 800 year history and experience its working life first-hand on this special tour.
