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16, CENTRAL MARKETS, EAST MARKET BUILDING
SMITHFIELD, LONDON, EC1A 9PQ
Smithfield’s livestock market grew and grew over the
passing centuries, until by the end of the18th Century,
when the number of animals being brought into London
was beginning to cause mayhem in the area, and this
started to intrude upon the nearby streets and houses.
With the arrival of the railway, came an important change to the transportation of
livestock. Before then fresh meat could only be transported "on the hoof" which
was laborious and uneconomical, as it was estimated that each cow lost about 20
lbs on a 100 mile walk.
By 1849 almost 1,000,000 of the animals sold at Smithfield came to London by
rail, so when plans for the new market buildings were drawn up, they included an
underground area where meat could be unloaded from the trains.
Work began in 1866, with the first stone being laid in 1867, and a year later in
1868 the whole project was completed.
It was a vast cathedral-like structure of glass, ornamental
cast iron, stone, Welsh slate. The structure was full of light and air, and
consisted of two main buildings linked under a great roof, and separated by a
central arcade known as Grand Avenue.
Very soon after the original construction was finished, four more buildings were
added. Of these four buildings, only the Poultry Market (which opened in 1875)
is still in use today.
By 1885, the first imports of frozen meat began arriving from Australia, New
Zealand and South America. Smithfield had established itself as the foremost
meat market which it still is to this day.
The market was closed during WW2. and was used mainly
for storage and space for an army butchers' school.
Smithfield market did take on bomb damage to some of
its buildings during this time, but the majority of the
structure remained intact.
On January 23rd,1958, just 14 years after Smithfield's'
survival of WW2, a major fire erupted at the Union Cold Storage Company.
The fire burned for days, claiming 2 lives as it spread through 2.5 acres of
underground passages, and destroyed the original Poultry market building. At a
cost of £2 million a new building was commissioned and by 1963 it was
completed. Although the new building's exterior is quite unremarkable, the
interior was a feat of engineering, as in 1963 the buildings 225 feet domed
roof was the largest clear spanning domed roof in Europe.
By the 1990's the market undertook some modernization and was upgraded to
meet the new EC regulations. This meant the construction of new sealed loading
bays, an automated overhead meat rail system, and new stalls and chiller rooms.
The underground railway sidings, which were no longer used, became a car park.
D.P. MEATS OPENING TIMES ARE MONDAY TO FRIDAY 01:00AM TILL 10:00AM
OUR OFFICES ARE OPEN MONDAY TO FRIDAY TILL 14:00PM
For more information on our products and services, or to place an order,
please call 020 7248 0285 where a member of staff will be happy to help.
