Stocks Market was a market in central London operating between 1282 and 1737 and for centuries was London's main retail meat and produce market.
The market was located to the east of the Walbrook in the heart of the City of London. It was demolished to make way for the building of the Mansion House on the same site. [1]
Before the Stocks Market opened, foodstuffs were sold at stalls in Cheapside. There was concern that waste from these stalls would disrupt King Edward I's ceremonial entry into London in 1274, and the butchers' and fishmongers' stalls were moved to the site of the future Stocks Market. [2] : 256
Stocks Market was formally established in 1282 by Henry le Walleis, the Lord Mayor of London. [1] It was rebuilt on the same site in 1410–1411. [3] The market was named after "the only fixed pair of stocks in the city" which were used to punish offenders. [4]
By 1345, Cheapside was again thronged with butchers' and fishmongers' stall on market days, obstructing the streets. The butchers and fishmongers were required to move to Stocks Market and the poultrymen to adjoining shops or to Leadenhall Market. [2] : 256 By 1359, Stocks Market had 71 'covered plots' in four rows for the sale of meat and fish, and 27 more in covered areas along the outer walls. The fruit and vegetable stalls had moved to an area at St Paul's Churchyard. [2] : 256
From 1400, the market was under the control of the Wardens of London Bridge, [2] : 199 who let stalls to butchers and fishmongers for the term of their life. Funds raised from rents were used for the maintenance of the bridge. [5] For centuries, Stocks Market was London's largest retail meat and produce market. [6]
Hygiene standards are thought to have been better at Stocks Market than elsewhere, due to the availability of water and drainage from the Walbrook that ran alongside and also due to the management of the London Bridge wardens. [2] : 199 In the fifteenth century there were public latrines in the market which were flushed with running water from the Walbrook. [2] : 141
By 1543, the market had 25 stalls for fishmongers, 18 stalls for butchers and 16 chambers above, rented to various traders. [7] Poultry sellers and sellers of dairy produce congregated in the streets leading to Stocks Market, including Milk Street and Poultry. [8] The market occupied a substantial piece of land in central London; 232 by 150 feet (71 m × 46 m), excluding waste land to the east and west sides, and the building was 25 feet (7.6 m) in height. [9] Stocks Market was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and then rebuilt.
By the 1730s the area had become a prestigious location. The Bank of England and the Royal Exchange had been built nearby, and the site was chosen for the Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. [10] The Stocks Market buildings were demolished in 1737 [1] and the market was moved to Fleet ditch and renamed the Fleet Market.
In 1829, Fleet Market was rebuilt in Farringdon Street. [11] Following its relocation, the market changed its character; whereas Stocks Market was known as a "fish and flesh" market, its replacement primarily sold fruit, herbs and roots. [12] The displacement of Stocks Market and its relocation to a site further away from the city centre, represented a major loss for London's working classes, who worked long hours and had little time to attend markets situated away from central London. The demise of Stocks Market marked a period of rapid decline for London's retail markets. Wholesale markets, however, continued to prosper and informal, unregulated markets sprang up to fill the gap in food distribution. The number of costermongers, hawkers and other types of itinerant street vendors increased substantially following the demise of the Stocks Market. [10]
The diarist Samuel Pepys recorded a visit to Stocks Market.
Thence with mighty content homeward, and in my way at the Stockes did buy a couple of lobsters, and so home to dinner, where I find my wife and father had dined, and were going out to Hales’s to sit there, so Balty and I alone to dinner, and in the middle of my grace, praying for a blessing upon (these his good creatures), my mind fell upon my lobsters: upon which I cried, Odd zooks! and Balty looked upon me like a man at a losse what I meant, thinking at first that I meant only that I had said the grace after meat instead of that before meat. But then I cried, what is become of my lobsters?
In 1675 an equestrian statue of King Charles II trampling on Oliver Cromwell was erected at the market. [14] The statue was the subject of a satirical poem by Andrew Marvell (1621–1678).
But a market, as some say, doth fit the King well,
Who the Parliament too — and revenue doth sell;
And others, to make the similitude hold.
Say his Majesty too — is oft purchased and sold.
Samuel Pepys was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no maritime experience, but he rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and King James II through patronage, diligence, and his talent for administration. His influence and reforms at the Admiralty were important in the early professionalisation of the Royal Navy.
Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, England, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where it becomes Poultry, is Mansion House, the Bank of England, and Bank station. To the west is St. Paul's Cathedral, St Paul's tube station and square.
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The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the wall to the west. The death toll is generally thought to have been relatively small, although some historians have challenged this belief.
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St. Matthew Friday Street was a church in the City of London located on Friday Street, off Cheapside. Recorded since the 13th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, then rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. The rebuilt church was demolished in 1885.
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St Mary Colechurch was a parish church in the City of London destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt.
St Mary Magdalen, Milk Street, was a parish church in the City of London, England, dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene. Originally constructed in the 12th century, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and not rebuilt. The location was converted into a market, then from 1835 to 1879 was the site of the City of London School.
St Mary Woolchurch Haw was a parish church in the City of London, destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666 and not rebuilt. It came within the ward of Walbrook.
Norwich Market is an outdoor market consisting of around 200 stalls in central Norwich, England. Founded in the latter part of the 11th century to supply Norman merchants and settlers moving to the area following the Norman conquest of England, it replaced an earlier market a short distance away. It has been in operation on the present site for over 900 years.
Vice-Admiral Sir William Berkeley was a Royal Navy officer who saw service during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, rising to the rank of vice-admiral.
Poultry is a short street in the City of London, which is the historic nucleus and modern financial centre of London. It is an eastern continuation of Cheapside, between Old Jewry and Mansion House Street, towards Bank Junction.
Milk Street in the City of London, England, was the site of London's medieval milk market. It was the location of the parish church of St Mary Magdalen which was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and then of Honey Lane Market and the City of London School. The street was seriously damaged by German bombing during the Second World War and has since been completely rebuilt. Nothing remains of its former buildings.
Honey Lane Market was an historic market near Cheapside in the City of London.
The Shambles Market is a daily market held in the city centre of York, England. It was created in the 1950s after the clearance of a large area next to the Shambles, when large sections of the Shambles were demolished, including the entire street known as Little Shambles.
An equestrian statue of Charles II trampling Cromwell stands near Newby Hall in North Yorkshire, England. It was previously sited at Gautby Hall in Lincolnshire, and was originally installed at the Stocks Market in the City of London. It is a Grade II listed building.
