Tuesday 28 December 2010

Leadenhall Market - EC3

I stumbled across Leadenhall Market early on in my time in London and loved it so try and get back whenever I can - which is actually not that often as I am not a City worker and it's not really on the way anywhere. I went today when it was closed because I wanted to have a good look around and not be jostled by hungry bankers on their lunch break - it was quite cool to wander around alone in this beautiful Victorian structure (which has been used in films, TV shows and music videos - most recently as Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter films). The site of Leadenhall Market is significant in the history of London as it is located pretty much in the centre of what was Roman Londonium (I am obsessed with the history of London but will refrain from boring you with the Briton, Roman, Saxon, Dane timeline...whoops almost did). Anyway there has been some form of market here for hundreds of years but the current incarnation is Victorian and built in the late 1800s by the same guy that built Smithfields, so the look is somewhat similar. Like everything retail-driven it is now chain store central, albeit the better end but for me it's all about just walking around, appreciating this beautiful market, built on top of its medieval forbears and deeper down the remains of a long gone Roman town.

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