An Early Morning Tour Of Smithfield Meat Market

If we are talking about living history, one of the places that is most emblematic of that in London is Smithfield Market. It is London’s oldest wholesale market, tracing its roots back over 800 years and still operating from the same site. 

It is, however, sadly, going to be shutting down in the next few years. Part of the site is currently being turned into the new Museum of London, rebranded as the London Museum (which, by the way, is going back to its original name from when it was first established in 1911- it was only known as the Museum of London from 1976-2024). 

As a wholesale meat market, the real action takes place over night from midnight until about 6.30am. Go there during the day and you can admire the beautiful Victorian architecture in relative peace and quiet. There are a few people milling around wheeling bins or cleaning the floors. At night though, as much of the rest of the city snores, the market comes alive. Butchers, restaurant owners and members of the public all visit the market in the early hours to get their chops, steaks and offal.

You can do an early morning guided tour of the market, to visit it at about 6.30am, right at the tail end of the market’s activities. So, that is what I did, dragging myself out of bed to get to Barbican Station by 6.20am. I will share some photographs, whilst taking you through the history of the market. 

The History of Smithfield Market 

Let’s go right back to the beginning. The name ‘Smithfield’ for this area that was once just outside the city walls, comes from ‘Smooth Field’. This related to the smooth, grassy fields that once lay here, on the banks of the River Fleet, one of London’s ‘lost rivers’, that still flows underground beneath Farringdon Road. 

Smithfield was a popular in the medieval period for various activities, including football, wrestling, archery, jousting tournaments and executions. It was where Sir William Wallace was hanged, drawn and quartered in 1305 and where 29 Protestants were burnt at the stake under the reign of Mary I. 

It also was the location of a weekly livestock market. The first written record we have of a market is in 1174, although it will most likely have older roots. William Fitzstephen described the area as “A smooth field where every Friday there is a celebrated rendezvous of fine horses to be sold… swine with deep flanks, and cows and oxen of immense bulk.”

Animals would be walked to Smithfield from across the country, fattened up and sold. Originally the slaughtering would then take place inside the City walls, at Newgate Shambles or Eastcheap, but in the 1300s the slaughter of animals moved out to Smithfield as well. 

The Market Swells

Over the centuries, as the city’s population grew, the market also grew. By the mid 19th century, 2 million sheep and 200,000 cows were annually being driven to Smithfield. This unsurprisingly was causing severe noise, incredibly unsanitary conditions and congestion, often overflowing into the narrow, winding surrounding streets.

The market was described evocatively by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist. He said: ‘The ground was covered nearly ankle-deep with filth and mire; and a thick steam perpetually rising from the reeking bodies of the cattle, and mingling with the fog, which seemed to rest upon the chimney-tops, hung heavily above… Countrymen, butchers, drovers, hawkers, boys, thieves, idlers, and vagabonds of every low grade, were mingled together in a dense mass: the whistling of drovers, the barking of dogs, the bellowing and plunging of beasts, the bleating of sheep, and grunting and squeaking of pigs; the cries of hawkers, the shouts, oaths, and quarrelling on all sides, the ringing of bells, and the roar of voices that issued from every public-house; the crowding, pushing, driving, beating, whooping, and yelling… rendered it a stunning and bewildering scene which quite confused the senses’. 

The livestock market was eventually considered unsustainable in this location and in 1852 an Act of Parliament, the Smithfield Market Removal Act, was passed. The livestock market moved to where Caledonian Clock Tower Park is today in Islington, then called Copenhagen Fields. I have written previously about climbing up the clock tower in the park here. 

The New Market Building

Smithfield remained as a ‘dead meat’ market, i.e. no live animals anymore. A new, state-of-the art market building was required. 

The man commissioned to design it was Horace Jones, the City of London’s Architect and Surveyor. He would also go on to design the old Billingsgate Market building, Leadenhall Market and then, most notably, Tower Bridge. 

In true Victorian style, the market he designed was not just functional but beautiful, with its intricate and colourful design. The East and West market buildings were designed first, opening in 1868.

A Cutting-Edge Design

The design was also state-of-the-art for the time. It used a lot of cast iron and glass to keep the market cool and ventilated, crucial for meat and maintaining the cleanliness of the market. The most revolutionary aspect of the market was that it was built over the world’s first underground railway line. Metropolitan Line freight trains could then deliver meat into a huge basement of brick arches and iron girders designed by Jones. The meat would be then brought up to ground level via hydraulic lift, or the spiral ramp outside, for sale. It sits over a cross-section of three railway lines, one coming from the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, and another heading Eastwards.

The impressive ramp now leads down to the underground carpark below the rotunda. Its distinctive design has appeared in films including the James Bond film Skyfall, as the entranceway to the temporary MI6 headquarters. The Poultry Market building followed in 1875 (although rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1958) and the General Market building in 1883. Both of these are going to be home to the new London Museum, opening at the end of 2026. 

Exploring the Halls

You head through a doorway of clear, plastic flaps into the Buyers’ Walk. Both sides are lined with the various vendors and their signs displaying their specialities.

The market was definitely petering out by the time we were in there but, as part of the tour, we chatted to a couple of the sellers. Below are the very friendly pair at Channel Meats Ltd, who spoke to us largely about offal, which they are apparently doing a roaring trade in at the moment. This included a full display of various organs.

We also spoke to one of the sellers at Tom Hixon of Smithfield, founded in 1963, third generation master butchers, who spoke to us about their steaks and very popular Wagyu Beef. 

You also see various other elements of the market’s operation including walking past the cutting rooms and market constabulary, who enforce the market’s rules.

Lots of the businesses are family run and have been for generations. The oldest family business in Smithfield is D Andrade and Sons, the current workers here being the fifth generation. They have been here in some form since 1868.

Everyone we spoke to was enthusiastic, jovial and happy to answer any questions. You get the sense there is a camaraderie between the workers at Smithfield. You can see a fantastic set of photographs by Orlando Gill on the Gentle Author’s Spitalfields Life blog here.

The Tour Continues

We also ventured out into the historic streets and lanes of Smithfield, so atmospheric at that time in the morning. 

In the light of the morning, as hurrying commuters in their suits started emerging, you could then also admire some of the details of the market. 

The early start is absolutely worth it for this fascinating and unique tour, particularly before the market shuts for good. The tour starts at 6.20am outside Barbican Station and it currently looks like they are running a monthly tour. You can find out more here. 

The Market’s Future

There was initially a plan to move the market to Dagenham, which has been cancelled due to rising costs. The market’s future and the workers, as far as I can tell, is up in the air at the moment. 

The East and West market buildings are not going to be part of the museum, as far as I am aware. They are Grade II * listing giving it a high level of protection from any changes to the historic fabric. I suspect it may become a bit like Spitalfields Market with offices, shops and craft/food stalls, but we shall have to wait and see. 

You can find out more about the museum and its opening here. It is part of what has been dubbed the Culture Mile in the City of London.

Thank you very much for reading, more of London’s unique history below…