The London Markets
There are 12 markets in our London guide they are;
CamdenPortobello RoadPetticoat LaneSpitalfieldsBermondsey (Calledonian)Covent Garden Flower Market
Borough MarketChurch Street Lisson GroveCamden PassageLeadenhall MarketVenn Street Market
Although there are a few more not on our list, they are not to close to the
centre and are difficult to access.
Camden
MarketCamden is a trendy Market and gets very busy on Sunday, and usually close Camden underground station
for safety reasons. Camden Lock Market, the nerve-centre of the area, attracts the biggest crowds. This market, which has grown swiftly in size since
opening in 1974, has a cobbled courtyard leading towards the Regent's Canal. Stalls here specialize in handmade crafts, new and secondhand street fashions,
vegetarian fast-food, books, records and antiques.
Portobello
Market Portobello Road is a narrow, winding thoroughfare, in the middle of Notting Hill. A market has been held here since 1837, and today is really
three or four markets rolled into one.
At the Notting Hill end there are over 2,000 stalls selling antiques, jewellery, paintings, coins, medals, silverware and collectables.
All the stallholders here are experts so don't expect too many bargains. This area also has cafés, bars, restaurants and delicatessens.
Further down the hill are fruit and vegetable stalls. The section around Westbourne Park Road and Talbot Road was made famous in the film 'Notting Hill' , which starred Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts.
Portobello is both an excellent antique market and also good for general shopping like fruit and veg ect. Open for Antiques: Sat: 4:AM-6:PM
Bermondsey
Antiques Market (Calledonian market)Open: Friday Early mornings only, from 5AM to about 9:AM. It is called the Calledonian because it was originaly in Calledonian road N1,
and moved to Tower bridge road Bermondey shortly after world war 2. It is the best antique market, and has a lot of trade dealers who buy there.
Borough Market
This fruit and vegetable market spreads out in an L-shape beneath the railway tracks running into London Bridge.
Borough Market is the successor to a medieval market, held on London Bridge. In 1276 the market was moved to Borough High Street to avoid congestion
and was moved again in 1756 for the same reason. The buildings of its present location date from 1851.
The Borough Market on a Friday with a good food selection.
Spitalfields
Open Sunday;
It has become quite trendy as late and is something of a new Covent Garden, being the same type of buildings.
The famous fruit and vegetable market, established in 1682, moved north-east to Leyton some time ago. In its place is an organic food market,
surrounded by many other market traders.
Through the week there are crafts, junk and antiques stalls but on Fridays and Sundays that the market really comes alive.
Spitalfields Market has around a dozen organic stalls offering produce that includes fruit and vegetables, herbs, spices, pickles, relishes, breads and cakes.
You can sample the cheap tasty food available in the food court.
Petticoat
Lane Open Sunday; Sited in Middlesex Street Whitechapel, and surounding areas, very popular with locals.Probably the most famous and oldest
of all London's street markets, Petticoat Lane was started over 400 years ago and still attracts visitors from all over the world.
The Huguenots who came to London from France sold pettocats and lace here but the prudish Victorians changed the name of the Lane and market to avoid
referring to woman's underclothes!
The market actually takes place in Wentworth Street Sunday is the main day from 9.00 to 14.00 with 10 seperate trading streets including Middlesex Street.
You'll find bargains of every kind, including new clothes from well-knows chain stores as well as leather goods, watches and toys.
Covent Garden
A plaque commemorating the wholesale fruit and veg market.
Covent Garden was started in the middle ages buy Nuns who sold their own fruit and veg grown at the local monastery, and first known as Convent Market. Famous seller of
Oranges and Mistress to King Charles the 2nd was Nell Gwen.
The most entertaining of the London markets, with side shows, Juggler's, Singers,
in fact anything and everything goes on there. Nice area with plenty of good restaurants in covent garden, be prepaired to spend most of the day there.
Hour 9:AM-6:PM
The Flower Market
Is only open on Sunday, and tends to get very busy, so get there early to avoid the rush. Columbia Road Flower Market,
set in a road of Victorian shops, is the capital's most colourful and sweet-smelling market.
It was established in 1869 as a covered food market set in a neo-Gothic palace, but the traders preferred to conduct their business on the street and
the venture failed.In 1958 the short-lived market building was demolished to make way for today's flower market.
A visit to this market, with its flowers, shrubs, bedding plants and other horticultural delights, is one of the best ways to spend a Sunday morning.
Church Street
Lisson Grove
was not mentioned in the rate books untill 1783,but it is clear that in the Domesday book, that there were eight families
living there in 1086, and the name goes back before the Norman Conquest, and was the manor of Lileston. Church Street market has been on this site since
the 1830's and is a flourishing market to this day. The Edgware road end sells fruit and vegetables, while at the other end (Lisson Grove) is home to the
Antique traders. Some have their own shops while most trade from Alfies Antique Market, which was set up in 1976 in the old Jordans department srore.
There are about two hundred dealers, specializing in decorative antiques, gardening things, furniture, jewlery, toys, prints, and 20th-centuary design
classics. Although open to the public, it is predominatly a dealers market, and is therefore very competitively priced and off the tourist maps.
Easy to get to, about 10 minutes walk from Baker street station, and close to Madame Tussaud's and the Planetarium. Shopping there remains a pleasure with
out the crowds of Portobello.
Open: Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 18:00
Camden Passage
The name might suggest it, but Camden Passage is nowhere near Camden Town. In 1855 the Metropolitan Cattle Market moved from Smithfield
to Islington. Out of this developement the great bric-a-brac Market known as the Caledonian Market was formed. That Market closed during World War 11.
Bomb damage made it have to permanently close and relocate in Bermondsey (see Bermondsey Market).
The Caledonian's successor is a far more recent developement. Started in the early 1960's, as Islington became more trendy, it very soon
become internationally renowned. The narrow alleyway once a quite passage is now home to hundreds of antique dealers.
Open: Wednesday 7:00 to 14:00
and Saturday 8:00 to 16:00 5 mins from the Angel tube Islington.
Leadenhall Market
This market, one of London's oldest, that dates back to the fourteenth century. It is open from 07:00-16:00 Monday to Friday, and sells fresh food; among the vendors there are cheesemongers, butchers and fishmongers.
The ornate roof structure, painted green, maroon and cream, and cobbled floors of the current building, designed in 1881 by Sir Horace Jones (who was also the architect of Billingsgate and Smithfield Markets), make the building a tourist attraction. It was used to represent the area of London near The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It is also popular among local city workers specifically from the nearby Lloyd's Building.
Venn Street is the location for a new monthly street market in Clapham, starting Nov 27-29th 2009. A three day market running the last weekend of every month (except December, which is 11-13th) the market has a fantastic range of artisan produce and is a genuine alternative to shopping at the supermarket whilst supporting your local community.
Fridays and Saturdays are all about the food and Sundays are flower market day. Hot food and great coffee will be available all weekend.
Traders have been sourced from all over London and include local butcher Moen's and Clapham South fishmonger Moxon's as well as a number of Borough Market favourites such as Neal's Yard Dairy, Flour Power and Secrett's Farm.
Venn Street Map Location
Map of 18 central markets and opening times.
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