Borough Market

Borough Market
8 Southwark Street, SE1 1TL, Tel: 020 7402 1002, Website: www.boroughmarket.org.uk, Open: 4am-10am Mon-Fri (fruit wholesale), midday-6pm Thu-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat (food market) Tube: London Bridge
Borough Market is actually one of London's oldest wholesale fruit and vegetable markets. With a history dating back to medieval times (when the market was situated on London Bridge) there's evidence that fruit and vegetables were sold even then, along with goods such as grain and fish. Since 1999, a very successful weekend gourmet retail market consisting of up to 70 stalls and stands has been developed. Producers from all over the country bring a range of fresh produce to the market, including; fish, meats, vegetables, ciders, cheeses, breads, coffees, cakes and patisseries. Other stalls specialise in produce imported from abroad. The Market has been voted London's most popular market in the Time Out's publication's retail surveys. In 2003 it won the Visit London award for the most popular London experience, also voted for by the public. Similar accolades have appeared in the Evening Standard magazine as well as national newspapers.
With Bankside enjoying a revival in recent years, a number of high-profile restaurant and retail businesses have been attracted to the area. All this is good news for Borough Market of course, with the knock-on effect resulting in higher demand for quality fruit and vegetables. Weekends see the emphasis change from fruit and vegetables to food, including European specialities, cheeses, meats and more exotic delights. Small wonder then that Borough Market is attracting people from an increasingly wide catchment area in addition to the local population. What everyone finds when they come in addition to the produce is a unique space and meeting place that is The Borough Market . Borough Market now also boasts an increasing range of high quality food shops in its premises situated around the wholesale core. Following the arrival of Neil’s Yard Dairies in 1997, we now have a further 7 retailers, adding substantially to the already diverse range of produce on sale around the Market. The Market comprises three main elements. While historically focused around a wholesale fruit and vegetable market, in recent years a weekly fine food retail market has been established. The third strand of our operations involves management of a number of shops specialising in
food retailing.
The History
Southwark – sometimes called the Borough – is the most ancient of London areas with a history much older than the ‘Thorney Isle’ which afterwards became Westminster. Before the Romans came, Southwark Fair Market flourished on the southern side of the river but no bridge of any kind existed
to link the two banks. Aulus Plautus and his Roman legions found the market at Southwark in AD 43 on their way to sack the city, but Plautus was no writer and there was no written record until two centuries later – when Dion Cassius told the story of this early Roman invasion. To cross the Thames the Romans built the first London Bridge and the Borough Market has always either been active trading on it or positioned very close to southern end.‘Southwark’ itself is first mentioned by name in AD 944 when it is recorded that the Saxons built a wooden bridge at the southern end of which they erected a ‘Suthringagewoerc’ or military encampment to defend the city from invasion.
The first formal record of the market was on the bridge built by King Canute in
AD 1014 after the previous bridge was destroyed by Norsemen in an attempt to lay siege to London. Mention is first made of Borough Market as a recognised institution in 1276, when it caused great inconvenience by causing congestion
on London Bridge. To cross the Thames the Romans built the first London Bridge and the Borough Market has always either been active trading on it or positioned very close to southern end. ‘Southwark’ itself is first mentioned by name in AD 944 when it is recorded that the Saxons built a wooden bridge at the southern end of which they erected a ‘Suthringagewoerc’ or military encampment to defend the city from invasion. At the height of the Victorian era most of the food imported to the capital of the British Empire arrived at wharves alongside London Bridge and Tooley Street – hence it’s name – ‘London’s Larder’ and later on via London Bridge railway station, (the first large railway terminus in Central London). Thousand of tons of produce was wheeled the few yards from the train to the Market.
Borough Market has survived for 20 centuries, and remains a centre of food excellence. We are is looking forward to another 2,000 years of trading! The first formal record of the market was on the bridge built by King Canute in AD 1014 after the previous bridge was destroyed by Norsemen in an attempt to lay siege to London. Mention is first made of Borough Market as a recognised institution in 1276, when it caused great inconvenience by causing congestion on London Bridge.