
Old Spitalfields Market
Victorian iron-and-glass market hall trading since sixteen eighty-two, now a hub for food, fashion, and crafts.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Old Spitalfields Market traces the market back to King Charles II's original charter, then follows Robert Horner, a former market porter who financed the iron-and-glass hall you see today. It also follows the generations who found refuge here: Huguenot silk weavers, Irish families, Jewish refugees and Bengali communities, each reshaping the market in turn. Look up at the ironwork as you walk the stalls and think about who built it.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Greenwich Market
Covered artisan market in a UNESCO World Heritage Site, trading since seventeen thirty-seven beneath glazed steel roofs.
Leadenhall Market
Victorian iron-and-glass market hall built over the ruins of London's Roman basilica and forum.
Borough Market
Nine-hundred-year-old food market tucked under railway arches, owned by a charitable trust that can never sell or close it.
Covent Garden
Historic piazza where street performers, market traders, and Mr. Punch's first English show have drawn crowds since 1630.
Camden Lock Market
Iconic outdoor market in a former timber yard beside Regent's Canal, birthplace of London's alternative scene.
Columbia Road Flower Market
Sunday-only street market bursting with cut flowers and plants, framed by Victorian shopfronts in East London.