Our story
Borough Market is steeped in history, but it remains as relevant now as it has ever been
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Our Timeline
2021
1998
1950s
1930
1862
1756
1754
1676
1550
1270s
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2021
In response to customer demand, Borough Market begins opening on Sundays for the first time in its recent history
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1998
Emboldened by the success of the Food Lovers’ Fair in November, Borough begins to reinvent itself as a retail market for high-quality food
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1950s
After the war, Borough remains at the heart of the fruit and veg trade until the growth of supermarkets in the 1980s and 1990s put its future in doublt
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1930
Charlie Chaplin’s offer of sponsorship turns the Borough Market traders’ annual sportsday into a major national news story
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1862
A railway viaduct slices through the market. It is the growth of the railways that turns Borough into a major fruit and veg wholesale hub
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1756
Founded by local parishioners, the market is relocated to a new spot off the high street, where it remains to this day
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1754
Annoyed by the suffocating congestion on the high street, parliament moves to shut down this increasingly busy market
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1676
A major fire sweeps along Borough High Street, destroying the market house, which served as the market’s admin centre and kept the grain dry
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1550
The City of London, which has fought for control for centuries, takes over the market and extends trading from two days a week to four
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1270s
The City of London bans its citizens from buying food in Southwark and prevents the market’s traders from setting up on the bridge itself
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1,000 years of Borough Market
Mark Riddaway, author of Borough Market: Edible Histories, explores the rise, fall and rebirth of one of London’s most storied institutions.
How we work
Borough Market is a charity, run by a board of volunteer trustees. They have a responsibility to ensure that what we do here works for the benefit of the community: for our shoppers, our traders, our neighbours, and all the other people whose lives we might affect.
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Borough Market Food Policy
Explore the Borough Market trust’s new food policy, which sets out the principles that will define the Market’s approach to food for years to come