Greenwich Village Market closes this weekend. Author of the London Market Guide, Andrew Kershman, explains why the closure of the market is such a loss to Greenwich.
For a while in the early 90s Greenwich occupied a unique place in London’s market scene and seemed destined to rival Portobello and Camden. At that time there were five different markets taking place in Greenwich at the weekend including a small crafts market called Bosun’s Yard and a Flea Market on Thames Street, where traders sold junk from rusting ship containers.
When I returned from college to London with a car full of books and little money, I started selling my library at the market and saw the place in its prime. Since those halcyon days the Flea Market and Bosun’s Yard have closed and another Greenwich Market is soon to join them.
The covered market, in the central part of Greenwich, has become more dominant in recent years with its mix of arts, crafts and food and tends be the first port of call for tourists. Likewise, the Antiques Market, next to the cinema on Greenwich High Street, is still soldiering on at the weekends, but is small and without any roof it is vulnerable to the British weather. My favourite has always been the sprawling complex of shops, lock-ups and stalls just off Stockwell Street, opposite the Ibis Hotel, called The Village Market. It was here that I sold my second-hand books, bought some great furniture and acquired a wardrobe of retro clothing from the many second-hand stalls. It is this major Greenwich market that is due to close on Sunday 22nd March, marking the decline in the area’s status as a unique and interesting shopping area.
The best thing about the Village Market was that space was allowed for traders to sell large items like second-hand furniture and there was room for storage at the end of trading. This kind of spacious market with lots of cheap second-hand things has beeb disappearing as land values have increased and developers moved in. Famous markets such as Bell Street have closed, while the Stables Market in Camden has been transformed into a smart alternative shopping area, rather than the junk market it started as in the 1970s.
I now write The London Market Guide. Researching each edition of the book has allowed me to chronicle the rise and fall of many of London’s markets. When I returned in the summer of 2008 I was saddened to see the decline in the Greenwich Village Market. It still retained some of its charm, but the owners were planning to replace the market with another dull shops and residential development and the place had a neglected feel. Having wandered around the clothing stalls and noticed that the indoor collectables part of the market was actually a lot better than it used to be, it was clear that the place still had the potential to be a great market. I got involved in a campaign to save the Village Market in the hope that some more reasonable plans could be devised that took account of Greenwich as a great market area.
In the course of campaigning I was struck how many people were genuinely fond of the market and upset to hear of its imminent closure. The attempts at public consultation had been pretty limited with a display on the top floor of a municipal building and the planning documents lodged at the local library. It seemed that lots of people regretted the market’s closure but not enough to spend too much time campaigning for its survival.
I attended the planning committee meeting on 26th June 2008 when the council approved the planning application, having rejected a very similar proposal the year before. The councilors showed very little interest in the market and spent as much time discussing the exterior rendering of the new shops and residential units. The developers had cleverly allocated space for eleven stalls on the outside of the complex and this seemed to satisfy the council that a ‘market’ of some sort was continuing on the site. The fact that just a few stalls would be a shadow of the great market of the 1990’s didn’t seem to matter.
Since then the onset of the credit crunch has led to the developers shelving their plans for the site, but this has not given the Village Market any reprieve and on Sunday 22nd March it will close its gates for the last time.
As with many things in life you either get it or you don’t. You either think that junk and second-hand markets are great or that they are dirty events that are only tolerable until the space they use is built upon. Even if the developers and the council don’t understand, this closure is a big deal for Greenwich, particularly when the closure of the Central Market is also under consideration. If things continue in this way, Greenwich will soon have just one small market left. Maritime history is all well and good, but without its markets Greenwich will loose many of its younger visitors and its unique place in London’s shopping landscape.
Andrew Kershman’s The London Market Guide is available now from Amazon.co.uk
What are your memories of Greenwich Village Market? Post your comments below…
I was really sad to see the market go. Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware that it was closing or of any consultation as to the future of the market. Maybe we need some sort of group that updates people regularly as to the next big idea for Greenwich so that the people really can voice their opinions
same here, like many local residents, only found out about the closure a month before it happened. outraged but too late to do anything. greenwich council seem to be intent on destroying what gives greenwich its charm
I couldn’t believe this was gone today, what sort of idiots gave permission for this? We won’t be bothering to go to Greenich again.
I honestly can’t say I’ll miss this market but it’s a shame that redevelopment has been put on hold. The prospect of some decent office space in Greenwich was quite exciting! The sooner the terrible John Humphries house is torn down, the better.
Oh yes, anon, just what Greenwich needs – more office space! Did you SEE the former development that was proposed? This, in many ways, was even worse than the loss of the market, because along with the crappy cheap Wetherspoons buildings, it ruins the whole architectural feel and look of a central part of Greenwich, and makes it look like any other undistinguished suburb.
My fervent hope is that Greenwich Universiy buy the site, build a decent building for the school of architecture – and include space for a decent market.
To get a taste of what the council thinks passes as good urban architecture you only need look at developments of the last 20 yrs to get a feel for the future. Serica Court – looks like a prison. Hotel Ibis – boxy and unimaginative. Burney Street – the same late 80s design that can be seen in King Geogre St and Sparta St. The DLR ‘arcade’ soulless wind tunnel full of High Street UK shops. Cutty Sark Gardens – a garden with no greenery that actually hurts the eyes on sunny days as there is no light/shade contrast.
So, looking at what has been given planning in the past we can only assume that whatever they plonk in the middle of Greenwich will be soulless, cheap and unwelcoming
Please don’t misunderstand. But I think John Humphries House has acquired a patina of historical quaintness. If it stands much longer it will listed as a good example of mid-60s modern. My favourite for the wrecker’s ball is the from-the-start dreadful shopping complex more or less opposite the Swedish style 1930s Town Hall.
Hope that everyone will be able to make it to the consultation on 23/24th about the indoor market space.
I am interested in knowing their timetable as I am going to put myself forward for running a new guided tour of our town called ‘Great hoardings of Greenwich’
The tour starts at the Thames Clipper pier where we will make our way through the mess of the pier building site up to the Cutty Sark, sadly only included on the tour by default! From the Cutty Sark we can stroll up Greenwich Church Street to admire the vision of architectural splendour (and future of Greenwich) the DLR arcade and also peep into the empty shops that fill Greenwich Church Street.
From there we will be able to look at the indoor market and take one last peep before the hoardings go up and it becomes the 4th major piece of hoarding work within about a third of a mile
Not far to the next stop! No, just over the road to get to our next unused building site – this time the expanses of the Village Market and the Stockwell Street complex. Although closed as a matter of great urgency nobody knows whats going to go here – Claires Accessories and another couple of Inc- run bars perhaps?. Quite a lot of hoarding and empty buildings to admire around here and it will, during 2012, take us nicely to the Park where we can admire the beauty of the hoardings to be put up for 10 months to build a stadium in the World Heritage Site.
Once we navigate our way around this we have a short walk to the old Greenwich Hospital site. Quite a lot of activity has taken place on this site recently. They changed the hoardings. It is still, and very appropriately for a hoardings covered building site, the self-proclaimed “Heart of Greenwich” and perhaps that expense of wooden hoardings best exemplifies the current ‘look’ of Greenwich as championed by the planning dept
Now its just a quick hop over the parade of empty shops that is Trafalgar Rd to the final building site that is Lovell’s Wharf. Unlike most of Greenwich’s building sites there is actually work going on here.
And now back to the pier to wave a fond farewell to the World Heritage Building Site that was once the charming little town of Greenwich
Haha… an honourary blue badge for you I think, Paul!
Where is the *consultation on 23/24th about the indoor market space.* being held?
Hi Olly
22 Nelson Road on:
Friday 24th April, 4 pm – 8 pm and
Saturday 25th April, 10 am – 4 pm.
http://www.greenwich.co.uk/news/greenwich-hospital-consults-on-market-redevelopment/
Went to Greenwich yesterday purely to go to this market to buy some chairs and couldn’t believe it had gone. Does anyone know where the furniture seller who was just inside King William passage has gone?
Thanks
Don
Having looked at the consultation plans it seems that there is very little intrinsically wrong with the plans – unimaginative maybe, but not too horrendous (excepting those awful white plastic canopies that are just hideous, cheap looking and less appealing than the roof there at the moment)
A couple of points that do strike me are that it looks like the market itself will be made smaller – maybe we should just give up now and stop speaking of Greenwich as a market town. Markets support small businesses and attract tourists but Greenwich’s markets have been reduced to a token gesture now so perhaps best to write it out of the equation. However, I do applaud the decision to use the market space for community and cultural events – something that Greenwich sorely lacks
I also wonder what Grenwich Hospital Trust will do to encourage trading diversity on the site. Certainly extortionate rents won’t help anyone so let’s hope they have an alternative plan in mind to encourage interesting traders onto the site
Finally, my bugbear, timing! Will the market really join Stockwell Street, Cutty Sark, Greenwich Hospital, the visitor centre, various buildings in the town centre, Lovells Wharf and new and future additions; the foot tunnel, Maritime Museum and Greenwich Park as being yet ANOTHER boarded up section of the town?
Does nobody in the council (planning perhaps?) take a strategic view of the incredibly negative impact all this will have on both residents and tourists (and consequently local business). What exactly is the point of the current advertising campaign for the town when the town is now about 30% boarded up? I think all plans for modernisation should be shelved to post 2012 so that Greenwich isn’t the proverbial ghost town for the next 3 years.
I thought consultation meant asking the public what they thought and then adapting your plans if necessary. Well, thats what I thought a consultation process meant!
It appears that Greenwich Hospital have already submitted their application to Greenwich Council so the ‘consultation’ was more of a telling residents what is going to happen. But, you can comment online to Greenwich Council. Maybe you think that the Durnsford Street buildings should be integrated into the plans or think that the cobblestones add character. If so, here’s your chance
http://onlineplanning.greenwich.gov.uk/acolnet/planningonline/acolnetcgi.gov?ACTION=UNWRAP&RIPNAME=Root.PgeResultDetail&TheSystemkey=61073
Went to Greenwich for the shopping. My first visit in 9 years. Won’t be going back. Its incrediably short sighted of the council to let these markets go. Greenwich was basically empty. Such a sad loss to what used to be an oasis of history and culture in South London. It felt like a place that people “go through”, not “go to”.
I ran a stall on Bosuns yard in the 1990’s. It was a fabulous friendly place to work. As a single parent with a 3 year old- I was able to take my child to work with me, and earn a decent living.
Markets are one of the few ways left for young people and self starters to begin a business without getting into massive debt.
I now live in Cornwall and was researching a way to bring Cornish Crafts and makers into the city market when I found this article. Greenwich market is a national treasure.