After more than 800 years, London's legendary Smithfield and Billingsgate markets are closing. As a planned relocation failed, an era of British trade and food culture is set to end by 2028.
After more than 800 years, the end is finally nigh for London's famous Smithfield Meat Market. The comparatively younger Billingsgate fish market (formally established in 1698) is also expected to shut down for good in the near future. Their fates were sealed when the City of London Corporation scrapped its plans to relocate both to a new site in Dagenham – however, market traders may continue to operate until at least 2028.
Smithfield is the oldest and largest meat market in the UK, and has operated at its current location since 1868; its origins go way back to the Middle Ages however. Every day at 3 a.m., the aisles fill up with buyers from restaurants and hotels or retail butchers who rely on fresh meat, with over 100,000 tons sold here every year. But now this era in London's history is finally coming to an end. The original plan was to relocate Smithfield and Billingsgate to East London. However, due to rising construction costs and inflation, these plans were abandoned, with the city council instead deciding to use the alloted space for new developments instead. Market traders will receive compensation from the city, which, according to estimates, could amount to £300 million.
The closure of Smithfield and Billingsgate marks the end of two of the oldest wholesale markets in the world and represents a profound change for London's food landscape – many chefs and butchers started their careers there and learned their trade among the stalls. The Smithfield Market site in Farringdon is to be used for new projects in the coming years, with the neighboring General Market Hall set to be converted into part of the Museum of London by 2026.
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