Britain’s oldest meat market holds Christmas Eve auction ahead of potential closure after 800 years London’s oldest meat market has held what could be one of its last Christmas Eve auctions ahead of its potential closure after more than 800 years.
Smithfield Meat Market has been a constant in London for centuries, with the City of London Corporation given the right to run the meat market and other wholesale food markets back in 1327.
Photo credit should read: James Manning/PA Wire] The City of London Corporation, which runs the Smithfield meat market, previously planned to relocate it and the Billingsgate fish market to a new £1 billion development in Dagenham.
The Smithfield Market has held its pre-Christmas meat auction for the first time since 2019 – where sellers auction off surplus meat which hadn’t been sold during the festive period.
Last month it was announced that Smithfield, the largest wholesale meat market in the UK, would permanently close by 2028, alongside Billingsgate fish market, after the City of London Corporation voted to withdraw support for them.
