Saving Smithfield from corporate butchery

How SAVE fought and won two public inquiries to protect Smithfield’s General Market 

Despite being part of “the grandest parade of market buildings in Europe”, London’s Smithfield General Market had been at threat of demolition and decay for decades.

The General Market building is the western climax of a grand sequence of Victorian covered markets in the historic City of London. These magnificent buildings, stretching for 300m, were built by Horace Jones – the legendary architect of Tower Bridge and Billingsgate Market – between 1879-1883 and remained one of London’s most important market halls for over a century. 

Despite sharing the same wonderful character as the other Smithfield buildings, including the famous Meat Market, the General Market – with its glass roof and impressive dome – was inexplicably the only one never listed. In the 1990s, it was shuttered and left to decay by its owners, the Corporation of London. 

Decades later, a series of brazen proposals emerged from corporate developers seeking to flatten the treasured General Market building and replace it with large, looming office blocks in what was described as “butchery” and “the worst mutilation of a major Victorian landmark in 30 years”. 

SAVE fiercely fought to save both the General Market and nearby Fish Market for over 15 years, during which time we:

• Initiated, fought and won two public inquiries alongside the Victorian Society. The first in 2008 against the complete demolition of the building and the second in 2014, against a proposal from Henderson Global Investors that would have gutted the interiors and replaced the glass roof with bland and overbearing office blocks.
• Held a number of public events to keep the public informed about what was being proposed and how they could object.
• Published an influential report – Don’t Butcher Smithfield – in 2004.
• Worked with Britain’s leading market entrepreneur Eric Reynolds (now SAVE’s chair of trustees) and architect John Burrell to propose an alternative vision that would see Smithfield General Market revived and reused on a viable, fundable and deliverable basis.
• Hired an army of Lady Gaga lookalikes to march on Parliament with placards declaring: "You'd have to be Gaga to tear down Smithfield Market". The protest made headlines around the world.

Thanks to the many years of relentless campaigning, Smithfield General Market resisted demolition and is currently being transformed and converted into the new home of the London Museum – due to open its doors in 2026.