The area that comprised the Smithfield Market had been in continuous use since the tenth century. Smithfield market is Britain's oldest meat marketplace and has been a hub of economic exchange throughout London's history. The Smithfield Market, since the twelfth century, has been the sight of massive trading in meat, livestock and other agricultural goods. The Smithfield Market helped London to become the nucleus of trade in England and a hub for agricultural exchange in the region. Originally the area that would become Smithfield Market was a livestock market on the outskirts of London that traded in everything from cattle, horses, swine, and even poultry. By the twelfth century Smithfield Market had begun to sell meat and not just livestock.
Livestock from all over England would be brought to the Smithfield Market to be traded and bought and sold. By the twelfth century the market place was described as a place where animals of all kinds, especially cattle and horses, could be bought and sold. The site was even used to host fairs and festivals from time to time. The modern Smithfield Market does not sit on the same land that the original did. Due to the expansion of London's residential areas into the former outskirts of the city where the Market was located. The Smithfield Market was moved to the site where it still sits as the largest meat marketplace in all of Britain.
Sources
Rottenberg, Simon. "Monopoly in the Labor Market: The "Bummarees" of London's Wholesale Meat Market" ILR Review, vol. 13, no. 1, October 1956, pp.54-63,http://www.jstor.org/stable/2519493 Porter, Roy. London: A Social History. Penguin Books, 1996.
Werner, Alex. "A Brief History of Smithfield" Museum of London, 26 March 2015, http://blog.museumoflondon.org.uk/history-smithfield/
Thats amazing that it id still functioning in the same way after all these years
ReplyDeleteGreat sources, Ian.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is interesting that livestock would be brought from all over England. It surprises me that there were not more markets spread throughout England that would over the same services as The Smithfield Market. This could show how rare these type of markets were.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious how they moved it- did they somehow take it all apart and reassemble it? I wonder how much of the building is still the original materials from the tenth century.
ReplyDeleteI find it completely fascinating how one place can hold so much importance among so many people for hundreds of years!!!
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