Related links:
Thomas Gresham and England’s first shopping mall:
Episode 094: Gresham, The Royal Exchange, and England’s First Mall
Tudor London Episodes:
Episode 135: The Rivers and Bridges of London
Episode 134 Tudor London: St Paul’s Show Notes
Episode 136: Tudor Westminster
Rough Transcript of Episode 184: London’s Markets
Hello and welcome to the Renaissance English History Podcast, a part of the Agora Podcast Network. I’m your host, Heather Teysko, and I’m a storyteller who makes history accessible because I believe it’s a pathway to understanding who we are, our place in the universe, and being more deeply in touch with our own humanity. This episode is about something I really love – shopping. I’ve already done an episode on Thomas Gresham and England’s first mall – I’ll link to that in the show notes at englandcast.com/markets. This episode – as you can tell by that URL – is on the Markets.
Before we get started, though, Tudorcon. Unbelievably, we’re 10 and a half months away from Tudorcon 2023 because time flies. We have some new speakers confirmed, including the fabulous Adrienne Dillard, who has a new book out that you should check out as well. Remember, go to englandcast.com/Tudorcon to grab your tickets – englandcast.com/Tudorcon to join us in Lancaster Pennsylvania next September 8-10.
So I thought about doing this episode because I was thinking about the time my dear friend Paul took me to Leadenhall Market when I lived in London. He worked at the Lloyds building, and I met him for lunch, and he proceeded to give me a history lesson on the market. This was 20 years ago, but for some reason I thought about it the other day, and I thought to myself, “self, you really ought to do an episode on the markets of London during the 16th century.” So here we are.
During the 16th century, the number of markets in England grew significantly, as the country’s economy expanded and commerce became more widespread. The markets of this period were typically large and open-air, and they were used for the sale of a wide variety of goods, including food, clothing, and household items. Of course, there were no grocery stores, so this is where people would do their shopping. Many of the markets of this period were located in the town centers, and they served as the heart of economic and social life for the surrounding communities. In this episode we’re going to talk about a few of the biggest ones.
We’ll start with the one I know best, Leadenhall. You probably know Leadenhall Market even if you’ve never been there, because it served as the setting for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies. Leadenhall Market is in the center of the old Roman Londinium – the Forum and Bascilica are pretty much directly below it.
Getting food in 16th century London was a complicated business. Today, we have modern amenities such as freezers and refrigerators to make food storage easier, but back then, Londoners had to visit the market frequently to obtain fresh food. (side note: see my episode on refrigeration in Tudor England from the summer of 2018, I believe – I’ll find it and link in the show notes). To simplify the shopping experience, specific streets became well-known for certain products.
These areas were named based on the goods sold there, such as Fish Street, known for its fishmongers’ wares. Some drawings depict large fish for sale, although this may have been an artistic exaggeration. Other markets may have been named after landmarks, such as the Stocks Market. This market was intended for butchers and fishmongers and may have been named after the stocks, which were the only permanent stocks in the city from the 13th century.
The former Lord Mayor, Richard “Dick” Whittington, acquired the lease of Leadenhall Market building in 1408 and the site in 1411, which he then gifted to the City of London. Since then, the City of London Corporation has been operating the market. In a short period of time, Leadenhall Market became one of the top destinations in London for purchasing eggs, meat, game, grain, poultry, and fish. The meat and fish market was located in a series of courts behind the grand Leadenhall Market mansion on Leadenhall Street.
John Croxton designed and completed the original Leadenhall Market in 1440 and 1449, respectively. He transformed the original hall into a two-story, rectangular quadrangle complete with a public granary, ample storage rooms, and a tiny side chapel. The building’s battlements and turrets suggest that it may have been fortified, potentially in preparation for food shortages or social unrest. Prior to the expansion, trade took place in the narrow streets surrounding the market, but with its completion, all transactions were conducted within the arcade.
Leadenhall Market gained significance as a commercial center in 1463 when it was chosen as the site for the Tronage, a royal tax on wool, and wool weighing. In 1488, it was decreed that leather could only be sold to Londoners at Leadenhall Market. The Leather Market later relocated to Bermondsey.
London’s markets had established regulations regarding who could sell goods and on which days. Leadenhall Market also had a granary for poor relief and storage space for local parades and pageants. Initially, vendors from the countryside, referred to as “foreigners,” were allowed to sell meat there on Wednesdays and Saturdays. However, the Wednesday allowance was revoked in 1564, likely due to the market’s permanent stalls that London butchers could purchase, leading to competition concerns. In contrast, Gracechurch Street market was more accommodating to country sellers, offering a diverse range of products including dairy products, pork, veal, and produce.
As London markets continued to grow beyond the Tudor and Stuart eras, laws and regulations were established to maintain fairness in market dealings.
Another large market that Tudor Londoners would have been able to shop at was Billingsgate. Billingsgate Fish Market is still located in Poplar in London, and it is the UK’s largest inland fish market. It takes its name from Billingsgate, a ward in the south-east corner of the City of London, where the riverside market was originally established. In its original location in the 19th century, Billingsgate was the largest fish market in the world.
The origins of Billingsgate, a water-gate and harbor located on the north side of the Thames, between London Bridge and the Tower of London, are uncertain. Dating back to around 1000, it was likely built to respond to the reconstruction of London Bridge in the 10th or 11th century. Billingsgate served as London’s main dock during Shakespeare’s era. According to twelfth-century writer Geoffrey Monmouth, the name Billingsgate was inspired by the ancient British King Belin who built the gate in 400 BCE. However, in his “Survey of London,” Stow suggests that the name came from a more recent owner, such as Beling or Biling.
In the early Middle Ages, Queenhithe was the main harbor for trade. But when London Bridge was rebuilt, it made it harder for ships to navigate to Queenhithe. So, Billingsgate became a popular alternative port and market. In 1224, Henry III required all corn and fish to be sold at Queenhithe to better manage customs duties. However, after Henry’s rule, Edward I allowed fishmongers to land their fish anywhere, leading to the fish market moving from Old Fish Street near Queenhithe to Bride Street (later New Fish Street) near Billingsgate.
At the end of the Middle Ages, Queenhithe still held some prestige despite no longer being London’s only port. In 1463, as ships were deterred from reaching Queenhithe due to a lax drawbridge at London Bridge, Edward IV ordered all ships to unload at Queenhithe. If multiple ships entered the river at once, some were allowed to dock at Billingsgate, but Queenhithe was given priority.
Over the years, as a result of the congestion caused by the Bridge, the use of Queenhithe decreased so drastically that, by 1603, it was, as Stow says, almost forsaken (Stow 1:43). By this time, Billingsgate had risen to become London’s most important harbour. Stow writes that Billingsgate
“is at this present a large Watergate, Port, or Harbrough, for shippes and boats, commonly arriuing there with fish, both fresh and salt, shell fishes, salt, Orenges, Onions, and other fruits and rootes, wheate, Rie, and graine of diuers sorts, for seruice of the Citie, and the parts of this Realm adioyning. This gate is now more frequented then of olde time, when the Queenes Hith was vsed […] (Stow 1:206)
As Londoners’ diet increasingly included fish, Billingsgate became a dedicated fish market. In 1699, an Act of Parliament designated it a free, open market for all types of fish. In the 1600s, London was England’s top port, with 69% of exports, 80% of imports, and 86% of re-exports. As a result, Billingsgate was England’s leading port.
Another market that Tudor Londoners could shop at was Smithfield, which is still in existence as the largest and oldest EU approved wholesale meat market in the UK.
Smoothfield, later known as Smithfield, was once a large open space near St Bartholomew’s Priory outside city limits. Its name derived from “smeth,” meaning smooth.
Smithfield has a rich history as a key site in London for over a thousand years. It was located outside the city walls, and its grassy field and proximity to the River Fleet made it ideal for livestock markets. The area was surrounded by religious institutions, with the Augustinian nunnery St Mary Clerkenwell to the north and St Bartholomew’s Priory and Hospital to the south, founded in 1123.
In the 12th century, it was used for jousts and tournaments, but by the late Middle Ages became famous for its livestock market. From the 13th century, it was also used for executions of criminals, including Wat Tyler and William Wallace. During the Tudor period, many religious dissenters – both Catholic and Protestant, were executed at Smithfield.
Smithfield was surrounded by religious houses in the late 1300s. To the north was St Mary Clerkenwell, an Augustinian nunnery; to the south was St Bartholomew’s Priory, also Augustinian, and the origin of the Bart’s hospital system in Britain. Beyond St Mary Clerkenwell was St John Clerkenwell, the priory of the Knights Hospitallers. To the east was Charterhouse, a Carthusian priory where residents lived in separate cells.
This religious landscape was dismantled during the reformation, but its impact remains. In 1348, Walter de Manny leased 13 acres of land from St Bartholomew’s Hospital at Spital Croft, north of Long Lane, for a Black Death cemetery and pit. He built a chapel and hermitage, which were later renamed New Church Haw. However, in 1371, this land was used to establish Charterhouse, a Carthusian monastery, which has served as a Tudor mansion, school, and alms house and is still home to 40 brothers. The influence of Bart’s can still be felt: the church and hints of the cloister remain, and the hospital became a major presence in Smithfield, renowned in the medical world.
For nearly 700 years, it was home to the debauched Bartholomew Fair, which offered three days of revelry, sales, and music before it was shut down in 1855.
Smithfield Market has been trading meat for over 800 years, making it one of London’s oldest markets. As early as the 10th century, it was a livestock market. In 1174, William Fitzstephen described it as a “smooth field” where horses were traded every Friday, and “swine, cows and oxen of immense bulk” were sold by peasants. There were strict costs, customs, and rules, such as 1 penny for an ox, cow, or 12 sheep. The market grew over time to meet demand from the growing city population.
By 1710, it was enclosed by a wooden fence. In 1726, Daniel Defoe called it “without question, the greatest in the world,” with average yearly sales of 74,000 cattle and 570,000 sheep between 1740 and 1750.[40,41] By the mid-19th century, 220,000 cattle and 1.5 million sheep were sold in a year in the heart of London, causing major traffic concerns.
One of the main legacies of Smithfield Market, though, was how it drew attention to cruelty to animals. By the Victorian period, the market was heaving, and the methods of transporting and selling the animals became topics for journalists to write about, and politicans even introduced bills to help prevent some of the cruelty.
No less a writer than Dickens wrote about Smithfield – a particularly disturbing scene in an article called The Heart of Mid London. I’m going to read part of it to give you a sense of what Dickens saw. Please note, it’s hard to listen to, especially if you’re affected by the suffering of animals. So maybe skip a couple minutes if it’s going to be hard to listen to.
He wrote:
To get the bullocks into their allotted stands, an incessant punishing and torturing of the miserable animals—a sticking of prongs into the tender part of their feet, and a twisting of their tails to make the whole spine teem with pain — was going on: and this seemed as much a part of the market, as the stones in its pavement. Across their horns, across their hocks, across their haunches, Mr. Bovington saw the heavy blows rain thick and fast, let him look where he would. Obdurate heads of oxen, bent down in mute agony; bellowing heads of oxen lifted up, snorting out smoke and slaver; ferocious men, cursing and swearing, and belabouring oxen; made the place a panorama of cruelty and suffering. By every avenue of access to the market, more oxen were pouring in: bellowing, in the confusion, and under the falling blows, as if all the church-organs in the world were wretched instruments —all there—and all being tuned together. All this was being done, in a deep red glare of burning torches, which were in themselves a strong addition to the horrors of the scene; for the men who were arranging the sheep and lambs in their miserably confined pens, and forcing them to their destination through alleys of the most preposterously small dimensions, constantly dropped gouts of the blazing pitch upon the miserable creatures’ backs; and to smell the singeing and burning, and to see the poor things shrinking from this roasting, inspired a sickness, a disgust, a pity and an indignation, almost insupportable. To reflect that the gate of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital was in the midst of this devilry, and that such a monument of years of sympathy for human pain should stand there, jostling this disgraceful record of years of disregard of brute endurance—to look up at the faint lights in the windows of the houses where the people were asleep, and to think that some of them had been to Public Prayers that Sunday, and had typified the Divine love and gentleness, by the panting, footsore creature, burnt, beaten, and needlessly tormented there, that night, by thousands— suggested truths so inconsistent and so shocking, that the Market of the Capital of the World seemed a ghastly and blasphemous Nightmare.
Smithfield has a pretty disturbing history.
You might wonder why a more famous market like, say, Covent Garden, isn’t on this list – well, remember, during Tudor Times, the area around Covent Garden was a small suburb between the government seat at Westminster and the City of London, which is now known as the Square Mile. Covent Garden didn’t have a market until the 17th century.
So there we have it. Markets and food shopping in Tudor London. I hope you enjoyed this episode!
For now, we’re going to stop it here. Hop in to the Tudor Learning Circle (TudorLearningCircle.com) to discuss this and other things Tudor.
And grab your Tudorcon ticket at englandcast.com/Tudorcon, and plan your trip to commune with your fellow Tudor history enthusiasts in September 2023.
Talk with you again soon!