Old and New London, A Narrative of its History, its People and its Places. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings from the Most Authentic Sources. vol 2
Thornbury, Walter
1872-78
Chapter LVI: The Metropolitan Meat-Market.Metropolitan Cattle Market
Chapter LVI: The Metropolitan Meat-Market.Metropolitan Cattle Market
Before the establishment of the [extra_illustrations.2.491.2] , London was behind every city of Europe in respect of public markets. For centuries, dating from , has been used as a market for live stock. Latterly, the dirt and crowd, and the rushes of horned beasts, had become intolerable, and after much opposition from vested interests, an Act of Parliament was passed in , under the provisions of which a new and convenient cattle-market was constructed by the Corporation out to the quiet north, in Copenhagen Fields, once the resort of Cockney lovers, Cockney duellists, and Cockney agitators. | |
says the of ,
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Through the filthy lanes and alleys no could | |
p.492 p.493 | pass without being either butted with the dripping end of a quarter of beef, or smeared by the greasy carcase of a newly-slain sheep. In many of the narrow lanes there was hardly room for persons to pass abreast. Nevertheless, till the extension of the railway system, there was a difficulty in constructing a meat-market worthy of London, from the size of the great city. A good meat-market must be open to access from all quarters. Some years ago, when beef and mutton were far dearer in outlying shops than in Newgate Market itself, the inconvenient position, and the difficulty of reaching it, compelled persons of moderate means to be taxed elsewhere, rather than face the dirt and bustle of Newgate. The Corporation, therefore, at last resolved on providing a new market in , in order to utilise a waste, and develop the meat trade throughout the kingdom. |
In the Corporation obtained an Act for erecting market buildings on the site of , and the following year procured another, giving them power to abolish Newgate Market. The Markets Improvement Committee then took the matter in hand, and Mr. Horace Jones, the city architect, prepared a fitting design. Their parlia- | |
mentary powers enabled the committee to raise a sum of for the purchase of property, and for the erection of buildings. The Markets Improvement Committee concluded their contract with Messrs. Browne and Robinson for a sum within the estimated amount of . The chief element of the design was that the basement storey of the market was to be a railway-station, with communication not only from all parts of the country, but also with all the suburban lines. | |
The tremendous excavations soon began on a Roman scale of grandeur. About loads of earth, weighing about tons, had to be loosened and removed. main girders, of Titanic strength, were carried across the entire width of the excavation, feet, on wrought-iron stanchions. On these main girders cross girders were laid, feet inches deep, and feet inches apart. Between the latter brick arches were turned, and concrete and asphalte were set in stone, to form a roof for the railway, and a bedding for the wood pavement of the building. | |
In these foundations were miles of iron girding, carried on no fewer than | |
p.494 | wroughtiron stanchions, while substantial retaining walls rose all around. |
The stone of this well-planned market was laid on the , by Mr. Lowman Taylor, the chairman of the committee. In March the central area was given up to the contractors. The market is a huge parallelogram, feet long and feet wide, and covers and a half acres. It is not over-beautiful, but then its necessities were peculiar and imperative. The style would probably be called Italian, but it resembles more the Renaissance of France, that style which mediaevalists shudder at, but which is more elastic in the architect's hands than the Gothic. The prevailing feature of the style is a series of arcaded recesses between Doric pilasters, fluted on the upper triads, and elevated on pedestals. The entablature is returned and ornamented over the pilasters, with vase-like finials. The external wall is feet high. Between the Portland stone pilasters are recesses of red brickwork. The semi-circular heads of the arches are filled in with rich iron scrolls, which let in the light and air freely. | |
The keystones of the arches are richly carved, especially those over the side entrances. Under the iron openings are windows, with stone sills, trusses, architraves, and cornices. At the angles of the building rise handsome towers of Portland stone. The lower storey of each octagonal tower is a square, with double pilasters at the corners, and a carved pediment on each face. Above this height the towers are octagonal. and the octagonal portions are joined by the huge couchant stone griffins of the city arms. On each side of the octagon are windows, with carved friezes. The dome of each tower is pierced on sides by dormer windows, and above is a lantern, surrounded by an ornamental railing. The finest of the building, architectural critics think, are the facades of the fine public roadway which runs across the market, and divides it into equal parts. The roadway is feet wide between the double piers, which carry a richly-moulded elliptical arch and cast-iron pediment, and over each double pier is an emblematic figure in Portland stone, representing of the principal cities of the United Kingdom. At the south front London and Edinburgh stand confessed, and on the north are Dublin and Liverpool. The sides of the outer roadway are shut off from the market by an elaborate open iron-work screen, feet high, and at the intersection of the central avenue, east and west, the market is closed by ornamented iron gates, with iron spandrils and semi-circular heads similar to those in the arcade. Towards the north a gate gives access, by a double staircase, to the railway department below. The gates at the east and west entrances (the chief) are feet high, and feet wide, and each pair weighs tons. They are formed of wrought ironwork, elaborately scrolled. The central avenue, a large inner street, is feet wide, and has side avenues. The shops are ranged on either side of this great thoroughfare. There is bay at the east end of the market for game and poultry, but no fish or vegetables can be sold. The shops are of cast-iron, with light columns and lattice girders, and which, by brackets, serve to carry the rails and meat-hooks. There are about shops in the market, each about feet by feet, and behind every shop is an enclosed counting-house, with private apartments overhead. To secure light and air the Mansard roof has been used. The broad glass louvres of this system let in the air and keep out the sun; the result is that the interior of the building is generally degrees cooler than the temperature in the shade outside. There are hydrants on the floor-level. It was planned that when the meat which arrived by rail reached the depot underneath the market, it should be raised to the level of the floorway by powerful hydraulic lifts. The Metropolitan, the Midland, the London, Chatham, and Dover, and the Great Western Railways have direct communication with the depot. The passenger trains of the Metropolitan, Great Northern, Midland, and Chatham and Dover Companies rush through every minutes, and the Great Western Company have an extensive receiving-store there. It was thought that if it were deemed desirable there would be no difficulty in making a passenger station right under the market. | |
For the ceremony of opening, in , a raised dais was erected in the eastern nave, and the public roadway dividing the market was fitted up as a magnificent banqueting-room. On both sides and at either end streamed rich scarlet draperies, and within the gate there were paintings and ornaments in white and gold-work. The temporary entrance was at the end of the eastern avenue. Opposite it was a scarlet sideboard, glowing with gold plate, and crowned with a trophy of lances. A table for the Lord Mayor and chief guests was placed in front of the sideboard, and other tables, on which there were flowers and fruit, and covers for people, ran in a transverse direction from the Lord Mayor's seat. Over the entrance was an orchestra for the band of the Grenadier Guards, led by that enthusiast of good time, Mr. Dan Godfrey. Jets of gas were | |
p.495 | carried along the elliptical roof girders, in simple lines, and in arches over the screen of open ironwork that shuts off the market from the roadway. yards of gas-piping fed a number of candelabra and a centre star-light. There were carvers, in dignity, who, mounted on high pedestals, carved barons of beef and boars' heads. The Lord Mayor's footmen shone in gold lace, and the city trumpeter and toastmaster also dignified the feast by their attendance. The ceremony of opening the market was simple enough. The Lord Mayor arrived in state from the , and was received by Mr. H. Lowman Taylor and the Markets Improvement Committee, at the east end of the building, and conducted to the dais, where his lordship received a number of provincial mayors, members of Parliament, &c. The speakers at the banquet congratulated each other on the rapidity with which the market had been built, and hoped it would bring tolls to the Corporation, cheap meat to the people, and fair profits to the salesmen. Mr. Lowman Taylor considered the old market well replaced by the new building, with its ample thoroughfares, and trusted that the new rents and tolls would bring the Corporation exchequer a fair return for the which the new building had cost. It was designed to supply with food. |
says a writer at the time of the opening,
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This great market has proved a decided success. An official report issued this year () shows that the total amount of toll paid for all descriptions of produce brought into the market has risen from d. in to in . The total receipts for both tolls and rentals were in as against during . There is a large and increasing demand for accommodation; so much so, indeed, that whenever there is a vacant shop, it is besieged by or tradesmen, eager to become tenants, and a place in the market is considered quite a prize amongst salesmen. It is anticipated that there will soon be a farther demand on the space at , in consequence of the Act prohibiting private slaughter-houses coming into operation, as many of the Whitechapel butchers will then desire to come here. This being the case, it was some time since resolved to erect a new market immediately west of the Meat Market, to be devoted to the poultry, game, and cognate trades. | |
This new structure which the Fathers of the city propose to bestow upon their children is rapidly approaching completion. It is, as regards architecture, in harmony with the Meat Market, and that it will be as successful as regards trade can hardly be doubted. The traffic in London in poultry and game possesses many features of interest, and a few facts respecting the business done at in these luxuries of the table may be worth noting. The following newspaper account may be rescued, on account of its merits, from that oblivion which so generally attends most of the-ephemeral productions of the press:-- | |
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Footnotes: [extra_illustrations.2.491.2] new meat and poultry market in Smithfield |