Had a couple of business meetings near Borough Market today so made a little tour around the market to pick up some goodies for the weekend. A big lump of fresh buffalo mozzarella, focaccia bread, fresh organic tomatoes, green Italian olives (that I absolutely adore), dessert in the shape of strawberries and cheesecake parcels, and some spicy sausages. Making a little Friday night treat for myself and the boyfriend. 
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peaks
- 2008-06-13 @ 23:00:02
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pjohansson
- 2008-06-14 @ 11:00:39
That is a shame - perhaps you can find a farmers market nearby! Borough Market is always threatened with the possible expansion of the nearby railway tracks, however I hope they will leave it where it is. It just has so much character.
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In AD 43 Aulus Plautus and his Roman legions arrived at the south bank of the Thames on their way to sack the city of London. Sacking is hungry work and they must have been delighted to discover the early Borough Market beside the river. Bridge-building can be equally exhausting without sustenance, so it is probably no coincidence that the first London Bridge was built in the area. Such a major engineering challenge would have been too frightful to contemplate without a ready supply of succulent Saxon snacks.
Many important events of the early history of London took place in the area of Borough Market. The Romans were succeeded by invading Norsemen who, since they destroyed the first London Bridge, would probably have swiped rather than bought market produce to whip up a ceremonial roast before indulging in some light post-prandial pillaging.
The next historic visitor was King Canute, in AD 1014. By then, Borough Market had actually insinuated itself onto the bridge, most convenient for the purchase of comfort-food after a demoralising encounter with the waves on a Hampshire beach. However by 1276 the locals were getting a bit irritated with the market, for what with everyone milling about trying to cadge a free lunch of tastings at the market stalls no-one could get across the bridge.
Edward III, The Confessor, passed a series of Royal Charters (1406, 1442 and 1462), moving Borough Market hither and yon around the south side of the bridge. Traffic problems persisted, however: the Market stood at the meeting point of all the roads from the South Coast into the City of London, so merchants from all over Europe traded their produce here. The huge number of travellers passing through the area frequently stayed the night in Southwark, taking the opportunity of having a good supper before departing on gastronomically Spartan pilgrimages.
From then on the Market went from strength to strength, always causing traffic congestion and often giving rise to unfortunate instances of early English road rage. These incidents so frequently ended in bloodshed that it was useful to have to hand two of London’s most notorious prisons, The Clink and The Marshalsea. In 1671 Charles II confirmed the Royal Charter and fixed the market boundaries along Borough High Street from London Bridge southwards and dissolute courtiers were much given to visits to the area to satisfy all their appetites.
A glance at Hogarth’s Southwark Fair shows just how disruptive all this was to traffic flow and the lives of the local community. By 1754 the City of London, weary of trying to control social chaos and congested traffic, petitioned Parliament to be relieved of the dubious privilege of administering Borough Market. In 1756 an Act was passed which abolished the old market but gave leave for the parishioners of St Saviour’s church (Southwark Cathedral) to set up a new one on the current site. It was perfectly placed for the sale of produce arriving at the Pool of London – ‘London’s Larder’ – and later for London Bridge railway station, whence thousands of tons of produce used to be wheeled to the Market.
Borough Market recently celebrated 250 years of trading on its current site. It has survived in this area for 20 centuries and remains a centre for food excellence.-
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pjohansson
- 2008-06-18 @ 09:18:29
Thank you for this - it is great to find out more about the history behind Borough Market!
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EllieGant
- 2008-06-18 @ 17:34:14
That sounds delicious! I really miss living in London when it comes to things like the food shops and Borough Market.
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- 2008-06-19 @ 17:14:04
Glad midsommar! Will you be dancing around the maypole tomorrow?
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pjohansson
- 2008-06-20 @ 19:42:41
Glad midsommar! No dancing around the maypole as I am staying in the UK, but a midsummer's BBQ with friends is the plan!
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You are lucky to be able to use Borough Market. I live ~100 km outside London and we have nothing like it. I visited my sisters in London earlier this year and had a chance to see it