Old Billingsgate

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View from The Shard on Old Billingsgate

Old Billingsgate , also supplemented by the appended addition Market , is a listed event building in Billingsgate , a district in the City of London , the historic core of the British capital . It is located directly on the Thames and served as a wholesale market for fish from its completion in 1876 to 1982 under the name Billingsgate Market .

Origin of name

Before Billingsgate caught on, Blynesgate and Byllynsgate were in use. The origin of the name is unclear. Presumably it refers to a gate ( English gate ) to the river and possibly an owner who was called Biling , maybe there is a reference to Belinus , a legendary king of the 4th century BC .

history

South side, 1876
North side, around 1888
Central hall, on the right the double row of columns, 1876
North side, 2014
South side, 2009

King Edward III granted the city of London the right to hold markets in 1327 with the stipulation that they must be at least 6.6  miles apart. Under Henry IV this was specified in 1400 to the effect that the markets in Billingsgate, Cheap and Smithfield had to take place. Was Billingsgate first a trading center for goods of all kinds, it was in 1699 by a resolution of Parliament stipulated that Billingsgate "a free and open market which for all varieties of fish whatsoever" ( English "A free and open market for all sorts of fish whatsoever " ) should be. The only exception was the sale of eels , which was reserved for Dutch fishermen who had moored their boats on the bank. This monopoly was thanks for helping with a famine caused by the city ​​fire of 1666 . Half a dozen other laws enacted from 1846 to 1990, led to changes, but also confirmed the competence of the administration of the City of London for market surveillance .

Up until the middle of the 19th century, fish and seafood were traded in stalls and stalls right on the quay . Due to the increased turnover, this situation was increasingly seen as unsatisfactory and therefore a central sales building between the river and Lower Thames Street was built in 1850 according to a design by the city ​​architect J. B. Bunning . After just a few years, this turned out to be too small, so it was torn down in 1873 and replaced by a successor building completed in 1876, inaugurated in July 1877 and still in existence today. The planning was entrusted to Bunnings successor in office Horace Jones , who was inspired by architectural models from 17th century France for his Italianate-style design . The new building carried out by John Mowlem's company doubled the previous sales area. Fresh fish was offered in the large hall on the first floor, and dried fish in the gallery on the first floor.

The building was designated as a Category II Listed Building in 1980 and has been a listed building ever since. In 1982, the fish market moved to the Isle of Dogs in the area of Docklands around, but kept the old name Billingsgate Market in. The architect Richard Rogers was commissioned to plan a conversion for the purpose of re-using the historic building, which subsequently traded as Old Billingsgate .

description

The roughly square building in Victorian architecture was built from brick and stone from Portland with a granite base . Along the north side there are thirteen arched arcades on the ground floor level , which also encompass the first floor level. Iron grille can be found in the area of ​​the curve. The main entrance is behind the middle three arches and sticks out a bit. It is crowned by a triangular false gable and a statue of Britannia . The main part of the south side is also divided into arches, a total of eleven, with the same height.

The lead-covered curved mansard roof along the south side facing the river has five dormer windows with ornate round openings. The middle one is slightly larger than the other four. Two elongated hipped roofs run along the north side . The main area on the ground floor, designed as a large hall, receives its light from several rows of overlying glass roofs, which are grouped into an eastern and a western part. They lie on cast iron girders that run in an east-west direction , which in turn rest on four rows of columns. The two middle ones run through the hall at a distance of almost six meters lengthways and almost eight meters crossways and at the same time mark the entrance areas to both parts of the building. Another hipped roof lies over them. It extends from the false gable in the north to the mansard roof in the south and has glass fronts below the long sides. The glass roofs have blinds that can be opened for ventilation purposes.

With the exception of the arcade areas, the individual floors can be recognized from the outside through cornices . The four corners of the complex form structurally independent parts. The two on the south side are one story higher than the rest of the building. They have simply designed, rectangular dormers, on their roof they are decorated with balusters and sculptures of fish. Weather vanes are on their tips, they too are shaped like a fish. The two corners on the north side have their own square roofs, which means that they are slightly higher than the immediately adjacent parts of the building. Here, too, as on the south side, there are dormers with round, stone openings.

Adjacent to Old Billingsgate to the east, across a narrow street, are the Custom House , which is also listed, and to the west is a modern office building in which the media company Northern & Shell is based. A paved terrace extends towards the Thames. It is open in both directions and therefore part of a route for non-motorized traffic along the river.

Todays use

As of 2019, the building is available for events. This includes weddings, banquets, fashion shows, film premieres, conferences and exhibitions. The British Independent Film Awards were among others of international importance .

Inside, Old Billingsgate is divided into:

  • the main area, the Great Hall . It extends on three sides to the outer wall, in the east it borders on a number of smaller rooms. With the exception of the entrance zones in the north and south and between the two rows of columns, the hall, with a height of 12.75 meters, extends below the glass roof.
  • the mezzanine on the first floor. It comprises the space designed as a bridge between the rows of columns, the areas above the entrance zones and a narrow corridor open to the hall in the west. The bridge, corridor and the parts facing the hall above the entrance areas are designed to be open and are only separated from them by railings. As on the ground floor, there are a number of smaller rooms facing the east wall. From an organizational point of view, the mezzanine is part of the large hall, both together offer space for 2,500 guests on an area of ​​4,300 square meters.
  • The Gallery on the 2nd floor, with an area of ​​1,000 square meters and space for 500 guests, essentially has the floor plan of the level below. The parts facing the hall are, however, provided with walls with windows in them.
  • The Vault , a vaulted cellar that used to be used to store ice-cold fish . It has an area of ​​2,000 square meters and space for 900 guests.

The different areas can be used separately from one another and are accessible via stairs in the corner parts of the building.

Picture gallery

  • South-east corner, with fish sculptures and weather vane

  • Ornamental grille in the northern arcades

  • Statue of Britannia

  • In the central hall, 1911

  • Crowd of visitors at the Eurogamer 2009

literature

  • Section to Billingsgate in: Henry B. Wheatley: London Past and Present ., Vol I, p 181ff, London, 1891. Digitized available on the Internet Archive , directly to the page (English)

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 31 ″  N , 0 ° 5 ′ 3 ″  W.