 Chalton Street Market in 2009 | |
| Location | Somers Town, Camden, Greater London |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°31′43″N0°07′45″W / 51.528705°N 0.129149°W |
| Address | Chalton Street |
| Opening date | 1795 |
| Management | Camden London Borough Council |
| Owner | Camden London Borough Council |
| Environment | Outdoor |
| Goods sold | Fashion, Food, Household Goods |
| Days normally open | Friday |
| Website | camden.gov.uk/markets |
  Chalton Street Market Location in London Borough of Camden | |
Chalton Street Market is a street market in Camden, North London.
Established circa 1795 (as The Brill).
In 1784 the first housing was built at Somers Town, London and by 1795 the streets around the market were fully laid out. [1] The Market probably started at this time. Less than sixty years later Henry Mayhew lists a 300 pitch market at the Brill and on Chapel Street, [2] the second largest street market in London after Hampstead Road and Tottenham Court Road.
The market was named The Brill after the Brill House tavern at the western end of the street. The area had been known for dog fighting and bull-baiting but the housing development and market chased these entertainments away:
As the philanthropic or curious visitor enters Skinner Street, about eleven o’clock some bright Sunday morning, his ears will be greeted, not by the barking of dogs and the roaring of infuriated bulls, as of old, but by the unnaturally loud cries of men, women, boys, and girls, anxious to sell edibles and drinkables—in fact, everything which a hard-working man or poor sempstress is supposed to need in order to keep body and soul together.
— Edward Walford, Old and New London, [3]
Chapel Street is now an access way through Levita House and continues west into Drummond Crescent as Churchway. Half of Chapel Street and, at its eastern end, the Brill House are now beneath the site of the British Library.
Mayhew describes a market selling fruit & veg, confectionary, meat and fish, as well as crockery, clothing, and stationery. [2]
Unregulated street markets allowed London to grow explosively in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The traders could move easily to the new population centres and enabled people to buy provisions without having to travel to the central London wholesale markets. In the early morning traders would load their barrows at the wholesale markets, clean and sort the goods, and then sell them in the new suburban streets. In many cases, the sites of these markets became London's modern high streets.
In 1867, section six of the Metropolitan Streets Act effectively prohibited street trading. Following public meetings and press criticism, the act was amended within weeks. Section one of the Metropolitan Streets Act Amendment Act 1867 exempted traders but they were now subject to regulation by the police. [4]
By 1887 the former site of the market had been demolished to make way for the Midlands Railway Good Depot:
The Brill has been swept away by the Midland Railway Company, but the hucksters have taken possession of the neighbouring streets, and Somers Town is almost as crowded and noisy as ever on Saturday nights. [5]
In 1893, Chalton Street Market is described as comprising 97 stalls on a Friday and 32 on a Saturday selling food as well as clothing and second-hand goods. [6]
Henry Croft, the founder of the tradition of Pearly Kings and Queens [7] was born in St Pancras Workhouse, Somers Town in 1861. Though he was a road sweeper rather than a costermonger, his colourful style of raising money for charity has influenced cockney market traders down to this day illustrated by a parade of Pearly Kings and Queens at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The London County Council (General Powers) Act 1927 replaced police regulation with a new licensing regime administered by metropolitan borough councils. [8] From 1927 to 1965 the market was managed by the Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras.
Benedetta's The Street Markets of London makes only a passing reference to Chalton Street indicating that it was now trading on weekdays only with mostly fruit and vegetables to purchase. [9]
In 1965 the Borough of St Pancras was abolished and its area became part of the London Borough of Camden.
By the early 1980s the market was only trading on Fridays and the fruit and vegetables have been replaced by clothing, jewellery, and secondhand books. The market appeared to be struggling with most occupied pitches being towards the southern end of the market closest to Euston Road. [10]
In the 1990s the market was again open from Monday to Friday with the number of stalls being about 25 on the busiest day, Friday. The goods on offer are described as household goods, tinned food, and clothing. [11]
Since 1998 the START (Somers Town Art) Festival of Cultures has been held on the second Saturday in July, on the site of the market. It is the biggest street festival in the Camden borough and attracts about 10,000 people, bringing together the area's diverse cultural communities. [12]
The Market is in operation on Fridays from 10:30 am to 3pm between the junction of Chalton Street and Weir's Passage in the South and the junction of Chalton Street and Phoenix Road in the North with a small number of stalls selling clothing, household goods, and fresh food. Licences to trade are issued by Camden London Borough Council.
Bus Routes 30, 73, 91, 205, and 390 serve Euston Road from the stop outside of the British Library. Bus Routes 168 and 253 serve Euston Station.
The nearest stations are Euston railway, Euston tube, Euston Square, King's Cross railway, and King's Cross tube.
Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest museum in the United Kingdom, and several educational institutions, including University College London and a number of other colleges and institutes of the University of London as well as its central headquarters, the New College of the Humanities, the University of Law, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the British Medical Association and many others. Bloomsbury is an intellectual and literary hub for London, as home of world-known Bloomsbury Publishing, publishers of the Harry Potter series, and namesake of the Bloomsbury Group, a group of British intellectuals which included author Virginia Woolf, biographer Lytton Strachey, and economist John Maynard Keynes.
St Pancras is a district in central London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around half of the modern London Borough of Camden. The area of the parish and borough includes the sub-districts of Camden Town, Kentish Town, Gospel Oak, Somers Town, King's Cross, Chalk Farm, Dartmouth Park, the core area of Fitzrovia and a part of Highgate.
King's Cross is a district on either side of Euston Road, in north London, England, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Charing Cross. It is bordered by Barnsbury to the north, Clerkenwell and Islington to the east, Holborn to the south and Somers Town to the west. It is served by two major rail termini, St Pancras and King's Cross. King's Cross station is the terminus of one of the major rail routes between London and the North.
Camden Town, often shortened to Camden, is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around 2.5 miles (4.1 km) north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London.
Euston Road is a road in Central London that runs from Marylebone Road to King's Cross. The route is part of the London Inner Ring Road and forms part of the London congestion charge zone boundary. It is named after Euston Hall, the family seat of the Dukes of Grafton, who had become major property owners in the area during the mid-19th century.
Somers Town is an inner-city district in North West London. It has been strongly influenced by the three mainline north London railway termini: Euston (1838), St Pancras (1868) and King's Cross (1852), together with the Midland Railway Somers Town Goods Depot (1887) next to St Pancras, where the British Library now stands. It was named after Charles Cocks, 1st Baron Somers (1725–1806). The area was originally granted by William III to John Somers (1651–1716), Lord Chancellor and Baron Somers of Evesham.
St Pancras was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, governed by an administrative vestry. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855 and became part of the County of London in 1889. The parish of St Pancras became a metropolitan borough in 1900, following the London Government Act 1899, with the parish vestry replaced by a borough council. In 1965 the borough was abolished and its former area became part of the London Borough of Camden in Greater London.
The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets, often collectively referred to as Camden Market or Camden Lock, located in the historic former Pickfords stables, in Camden Town, London. It is situated north of the Hampstead Road Lock of the Regent's Canal. Famed for their cosmopolitan image, products sold on the stalls include crafts, clothing, bric-a-brac, and fast food. It is the fourth-most popular visitor attraction in London, attracting approximately 250,000 people each week.
Berwick Street is a street in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, running between Oxford Street to the north and Peter Street at the south. It was built towards the end of the 17th century; several early 18th century buildings have survived. A market was established on the street in the 19th century.
Inverness Street Market is an outdoor street market in Camden, North London. Licences to trade are issued by Camden London Borough Council.
Earlham Street Market is a street market in situated in the Seven Dials area of Covent Garden on a short road between Shaftesbury Avenue and Monmouth Street. Licences to trade are issued by Camden London Borough Council.
Queen's Crescent Market is an outdoor street market held every Thursday and Saturday on Queen's Crescent in Kentish Town, Camden between the junction with Malden Road in the West and the junction with Grafton Road in the East. Licences to trade are issued by Camden London Borough Council.
The London Borough of Camden was created in 1965 from the former area of the metropolitan boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St Pancras, which had formed part of the County of London. The borough was named after Camden Town, which had gained its name from Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden in 1795. Since the 17th century, many famous people have lived in its various districts and neighbourhoods.
The London Borough of Camden is a London borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies 1.4 mi (2.3 km) north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 and includes the former Central London borough of Holborn, and St Pancras and Hampstead.
Street trading is selling from a stall, stand, or vehicle in the street rather than in a market hall or square. A collection of regular, and adjacent, street traders forms a street market. Where traders operate on their own, from a regular location, these are variously described as isolated pitches, scattered sites, or miscellaneous sites. Peripatetic traders are termed pedlars.
Chalton Street is a street in the Somers Town neighbourhood of London, England. Chalton Street is over a kilometre long and stretches from Euston Road to almost Camden Town, before taking a hard right turn and terminating at St Pancras Hospital.
Plender Street Market is an outdoor street market in Camden, North London. Licences to trade are issued by Camden London Borough Council.
Goodge Place Market is an outdoor street market in Fitzrovia, in the London Borough of Camden. Licences to trade are issued by Camden London Borough Council.
Leather Lane Market is an outdoor street market in the Holborn area of the London Borough of Camden. Taking place on Leather Lane, it is the oldest street market in Camden. Licences to trade are issued by Camden London Borough Council.
