Hungerford Market

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Hungerford Market was a market in London, near Charing Cross on the Strand, housed in two different buildings on the same site from around 1680 to 1862. The first market was held from about 1680 in a London house of the Hungerford family. This building became dilapidated, and was replaced by a new Italianate market building which opened in 1833. The new market was unsuccessful. It was damaged when the adjoining Hungerford Hall burned down in 1854, and was sold to the South Eastern Railway in 1862. Charing Cross railway station was built on the site and opened in 1864[1].

Contents

[edit] The site

The site was the property of the Hungerford family, who were based at Farleigh Castle, at Farleigh Hungerford near Bath, since it was acquired by Sir Walter Hungerford, Speaker of the House of Commons and Steward of the Household of Henry V (later Baron Hungerford) from Sir Robert Chalons and his wife Blanche in 1425. By 1444, it was known as "Hungerford Inn". His grandson, Robert Hungerford, and great-grandson, Thomas Hungerford, were both attainted for supporting the Lancastrian cause, in 1461 and 1469 respectively[1].

Henry VII granted the land back to Walter Hungerford, Thomas's brother. His daughter-in law, Agnes Hungerford, was hanged at Tyburn in 1523, for the murder of her first husband, John Cotell. His grandson, also Walter, was accused of treason and perversion in 1540, and Henry VIII had him executed alongside his patron Thomas Cromwell. His son, another Walther, was regranted the property in 1544. It passed through the family to Sir Edward Hungerford (1632-1711), a Knight of the Order of the Bath at the coronation of Charles II[1].

Samuel Pepys records in his diary that another London house owned by the Hungerfords, in Durham Yard, burned down overnight on 25 April/26 April 1669[2].

[edit] First market

Sir Edward Hungerford obtained permission to hold a market on the site for three days a week. Hungerford Inn was subdivided into shops, and, with a covered piazza, formed the market. Hungerford sold the site in parcels to the politician Sir Stephen Fox from 1681 to 1684. Sir Christopher Wren bought a quarter of the property, and was entitled to a quarter of the rents. The spendthrift Hungerford wasted his money, dying a poor Knight of Windsor in 1711. The old market was sold to architect Henry Wise in 1718, and remained in Wise's family until the Hungerford Market Company bought it in 1830[1].

[edit] Second market

By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the old market was very dilapidated. It was rebuilt in 1831 to 1833 in an Italianate style to a design by Charles Fowler, also architect of Covent Garden Market. The building partners Thomas Grissell and Samuel Morton Peto, who also built Nelson's Column, the Reform Club, and the Lyceum Theatre, constructed the building[1].

Under one roof were three large quadrangles, with shops on each side. The market sold food of all sorts - mainly fish, but also fruit, vegetables, and meat - with a landing stage on the north bank of the River Thames, by Hungerford Steps. The market did not specialise in one product, and found itself unable to challenge the other markets, such as Billingsgate Market, and Covent Garden Market nearby.

A suspension bridge leading to the market from Lambeth on the south bank of the Thames was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1845, and a hall for lectures, Hungerford Hall, was built next door in 1851. The same year, Swiss-Italian entrepreneur Carlo Gatti opened a stand at the market in 1851, selling pastries and ice cream. A portion of ice cream was sold for one penny served in a shell, perhaps the origin of the penny lick. This was perhaps the first time that ice cream was made available to the paying general public[1].

[edit] Charing Cross railway station

The new Hungerford Market was badly damaged when Hungerford Hall burned down in 1854. The market was sold to South Eastern Railway in 1862, and the site became Charing Cross railway station, which opened on 11 January 1864. The original suspension bridge was replaced with a new nine-span railway bridge. The original bridge was dismantled and the chains were taken to Clifton, Bristol, where they were used to complete the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

The Hungerford family are commemorated in the name of the Hungerford Bridge, which leads into Charing Cross, from the south bank of the river.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Charing Cross, the railway stations, and Old Hungerford Market, Old and New London: Volume 3 (1878), pp. 123-134 accessed: October 15, 2007
  2. ^ Samuel Pepys Diary April 1669 accessed 15 Oct 2007