Smithfield market’s future hangs in the balance (Image: Getty)
The future of Smithfield Market in London hangs in the balance after almost 800 years.
A vote in the City of London on Tuesday (November 26) may lead to the historic meat market being closed forever.
Owner and operator, The City Corporation, had been pursuing £1billion plans to relocate Smithfield to Dagenham, east London, along with Billingsgate fish market in Canary Wharf.
But the corporation’s policy committee has recommended the Square Mile’s descision-making body, the Court of Common Council, scrap the relocation plan and close Smithfield.
Committee members propose offering the market’s traders compensation, according to , which reports this could amount to more than £300million.
They also want a Bill tabled in Parliament to absolve the body of responsibility for operating Smithfield, which the corporation was granted the right to run by Edward III in 1327.
Smithfield was due to be relocated to Dagenham along with Billingsgate market (Image: Getty)
City of London wants to convert the site into a cultural hub linked to the Museum of London and build housing at the Billingsgate site.
Barristers who sit on the Court of Common Council have warned the vote may be unlawful because a study into the value of the markets for London’s food supply hasn’t been produced.
A City of London Corporation spokeswoman told The Times: “We will provide an update on the next steps when a decision is made by the Court of Common Council this week. Until a decision is made, the City Corporation has no further comment to make.”
Chris Hayward, the Corporation’s policy chairman, has reportedly written to members of the Court and told them neither the move nor refurbishment of the market were affordable.
He is quoted by The Times as saying in a letter to colleagues that the “strength of the markets has always been in the traders, not the buildings”.
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The ‘strength of the markets has always been in the traders’ (Image: Getty)
Relocation of Smithfield and Billingsgate markets was billed as a major regeneration project when it was announced by the City of London Corporation two years ago.
The Corporation said previously that the move to Dagenham Dock was under review to determine its financial sustainability.
According to the , the Corporation’s plans faced obstacles early on when Havering Council in east London objected to the move under a centuries-old law which prevents markets being established within a day’s sheep drive of Romford Market, which sits within the local authority’s bounds.
Smithfield became the capital’s livestock market in the Middle Ages, when it was known as “Smeeth field” after the Old English word for smooth, due to the flat stretch of land on which it stood.
Besides its role as a market, Smithfield is also where Scots rebel, William Wallace, was hung as well as Peasants’ Revolt leader, Wat Tyler, in 1381.
Smithfield became a wholesale meat market in 1866, with Tower Bridge architect, Horace Jones, chosen to design the covered building which still stands today.