Borough Market marks 1000 years!
Our favourite Borough Market is kicking off its 1,000th birthday celebration this Saturday, and visitors are invited down to take part in a unique interactive art installation!
Borough Market is rich in history, not only is it London’s oldest food market, but it is possibly the oldest in Great Britain. Members of the public are being offered the rare opportunity to be part of its history.
Borough Market milestones
11th-12 Century
A market takes shape along what is now Borough High Street, with traders benefitting from the heavy traffic across London Bridge: for centuries the only route into London from the south. A second market, specialising in grain, forms nearby in the grounds of St Thomas’s Hospital.
13th Century
Charters issued by the City of London, whose own markets are being threatened by competition from Borough, forbid Londoners from crossing the bridge to buy “corn, cattle or other merchandise”, declare that “no market place shall be kept on London Bridge”, and make it illegal for anyone to cross into the City to re-sell bread brought on the cheap in Borough.”
14th Century
City authorities petition the Crown in an attempt to gain control of Borough which, thanks to the vagaries of the legal system, has become a haven for escaped criminals.
15th Century
Henry IV grants to the City of London “assay and assize of bread, wine and other victuals”, sold at Borough Market: revenues which had previously gone to the Crown.
18th Century
The Market is closed by Act of Parliament due to congestion on the high street impacting on trade in the City. Residents of Southwark are granted the right to start a new market, independent of the City, away from the high street. They raise £6,000 by offering annuities to local citizens and buy the area known as the Triangle. The new market opens in 1756.
1756: Borough Market opens in its current location.
19th Century
The Market expands considerably and the growth of the railways turns Borough into a vital hub in the fruit and veg wholesale trade, serving commercial customers from all over the South East.
The birthday celebration entitled Footsteps in Time invites the British public to paint up and create a trail of colourful footprints. Visitors will tread through different colours of eco-friendly wash-away paint, leaving behind a collection of intertwining footprints to produce a rapidly evolving work of art.
Tweet by Eat Slurp Burb – #BoroughMarket1000
When the day draws to a close, the paint will be washed away, restoring the market back to its former glory, ready for the rest of the year’s festivities.
The celebration will be filmed to create a nine hour time-lapse video. Throughout the event, visitors will be encouraged to share the video and upload their personal artwork to social media with the hashtag #BoroughMarket1000.
There is plenty for market lovers to get stuck into! Festivities marking the millennium will continue throughout the year.
Borough Market’s 1000th birthday
What: Borough Market’s 1000 anniversary – Footsteps in Time
When: Saturday 20 September – all day
Where: Borough Market, London SE1
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You may also want to check our post about Acklam Village Market W10.
