East building of Central Market
East building of Central Market, West Smithfield EC1
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1285241
- Date first listed:
- 05-Jun-1972
- List Entry Name:
- East building of Central Market
- Statutory Address:
- East building of Central Market, West Smithfield EC1
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2002-07-14
- Reference:
- IOE01/03435/11
- Rights:
- © Mr Paul Howard. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1285241
- Date first listed:
- 05-Jun-1972
- List Entry Name:
- East building of Central Market
- Statutory Address 1:
- East building of Central Market, West Smithfield EC1
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- East building of Central Market, West Smithfield EC1
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- City and County of the City of London (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 31878 81780
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 17/02/2020
TQ 3181 NE
2/10
WEST SMITHFIELD EC1
East building of Central Market
5.6.72
II*
Meat market. 1868 by Horace Jones, City architect. Red brick with Portland stone dressings and corner towers; structural cast-iron to gateways and interior; tipped Welsh slate roofs with double-thickness glass louvres to lower half and louvred dormers to upper half of roof.
Rectangular plan with central through-road (Grand Avenue) running north to south. French-Italian Renaissance style. One storey. Thirty-six bay north and south elevations x 6-bay east and west elevations. North and south elevations: each have central cast-iron elliptical-arched gateway to Grand Avenue surmounted by pediment with City Arms to scrolled cast-iron tympanum and flanked by coupled Doric pilasters surmounted by large sitting statues of London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Liverpool. Semi-circular arched recesses to flanking bays, with decorative cast-iron grilles to tympanae and to square-headed windows with cornices and bracketed cills, articulated by Doric pilasters to triglyph frieze and moulded cornice surmounted by urns. Similar east and west elevations each have coupled Doric pilasters flanking tall cast-iron gateway, with ornate tympanum to bracketed pediment over semi-circular arch with City Arms.
Two-storey corner pavilions: coupled Doric pilasters to similar pedimented ground floor elevations with City Arms set in foliat-carved tympanae flanked by stone griffins couchant; octagonal upper stages have oculi set in shell architraves above plate-glass sashes set in eared architraves, enriched tympanae and acroteria to pediments; each have bell-shaped cupola tiled with decorative leaf-punched copper tiles and surmounted by louvred wood lantern.
Interior: Grand Avenue has fifteen-bay queen-post roof with decorative spandrels to lateral and transverse arch bracing, supported on cast-iron tie-beam and column assembly with foliate capitals to columns and decorative spandrels to bracing; ten original cast-iron lanterns survive, attached to cast-iron brackets with decorative spandrels projecting from wrought-iron screens with fleur-de-lys parapets; central bay of each side has decorative wrought-iron gates each set beneath decorative iron grille. Flanking market halls centres around lateral avenue with foliate capitals to row of cast-iron columns supporting lattice girders with decorative spandels to timber arch-braced trusses; other roofs have cast-iron columns with octagonal capitals to simpler trusses without decorative spandrels.
Listing NGR: TQ3187881780
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 199819
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 09-Jun-2026 at 22:05:51.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.