Smithfield- a must-do experience Fascinating experience but not for the faint hearted. Definitely worth seeing at 3-4am at its busiest. Go with a clear idea of what you want to buy as the choice & quantities are overwhelming.
As the largest wholesale meat market in the UK and one of the largest in Europe, Smithfield Market is a cornerstone of London's culinary scene and a must-visit destination for food enthusiasts.
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.
Can the public buy? 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. You will find a wide choice and high quality produce at excellent prices.
The City of London Corporation, which runs the site, said on Tuesday its council voted to stop operating Smithfield and Billingsgate fish market. The original plan had been to relocate the markets to a £1bn development in Dagenham, but a sharp rise in construction costs and wider inflation forced a rethink.
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What will replace the Smithfield market?
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.
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.
The area is best known for the Smithfield meat market, which dates from the 10th century, has been in continuous operation since medieval times, and is now London's only remaining wholesale market. Smithfield's principal street is called West Smithfield.
Entry to the Christmas Market is free of charge while for certain attractions such as the Ice Rink and Ice Museum, advance purchase of tickets is recommended via the website. Tickets for the Big Wheel are available on site. Find out more at www.christmasspectacular.ie.
The oldest meat and fish markets in London, which date back 850 years, are facing permanent closure from 2028. Smithfield meat market, near St Paul's Cathedral, and Billingsgate fish market in Canary Wharf are to be closed after the City of London Corporation voted to withdraw support for them.
The Smithfield Christmas Market launched last year and, while it definitely didn't contend with the big European markets, it was a welcome addition to the city. The new market boasts Ireland's first Ice Museum, an ice rink, a Big Wheel for city views, market stalls, and a cozy Nutcracker Snug.
The corporation decided in a separate vote last November to permanently close Smithfield and Billingsgate when it pulled the plug on a planned £740m relocation to a new site in the east of the capital at Dagenham, blaming rising costs.
It has been confirmed that Dublin's Victorian fruit and veg market in Smithfield will finally reopen in 2026. The historic red brick building on Mary's Lane, between Capel Street and Smithfield, has remained empty since its closure in 2019 to facilitate redevelopment.
For most of that time, the sellers have been family firms, passing the trade from one generation to the next. But now, along with its sister, Smithfield meat market in Farringdon, the site is set to close by 2028, with its traders relocated. These are the last days of Billingsgate as we know it.
Smithfield is renowned for its mouthwatering hams, which have become a signature culinary delight. The town's long-standing tradition of curing and smoking ham has garnered worldwide acclaim.
It's an unusually large pedestrian area which is very walk able and livable. It has some history, some places to shop and to eat, close to the river and it's not over crowded or over touristy, so it's a nice place to enjoy a lunch break or stop by on a weekend.
London's oldest meat market is set to close having served the capital for over 900 years, after a City of London panel voted to end its plans to help relocate its traders to a new site in Dagenham Dock.
How much does it cost to go to the Smithfield Christmas Market?
Entry to the Christmas Market is free of charge while for certain attractions such as the Ice Rink and Ice Museum, advance purchase of tickets is recommended via the website. Tickets for the Big Wheel are available on site.
There's only one 'main' Dublin Christmas market and that's the one in Dublin Castle. The likes of Mistletown (not running), the old Dun Laoghaire Christmas Market (hasn't run in several years) and the Guinness Storehouse Christmas Market (it wasn't a market last year) are all unlikely to go ahead.
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.
The Dagenham site was acquired by the City in 2018 from Barking Power Ltd, and announced as a potential option for bringing Smithfield, Billingsgate and, initially, the Leyton-based New Spitalfields fruit and vegetable market, also owned by the City, together in the same place.
3/3 Smithfield Market's planned move to Dagenham has been scrapped. Chetwoods confirmed to the AJ that work on the megaproject planned for the former Barking Reach Power Station had stopped.
Located in the heart of East London, this is the original East London market place that has been on-site for over 350 years. It all started back in 1638 when King Charles I gave a licence for flesh, fowl and roots to be sold on Spittle Fields, which used to be a rural area on the eastern outskirts of London.
What is the Smithfield Christmas market in London?
The Smithfield Market Christmas Eve meat auction is an annual holiday tradition in London. Every year, buyers visit the historic London market to buy surplus cuts of meat in cash-only bargain transactions.
