Lovely Leadenhall Market
Located on Gracechurch Street within the 'City of London' financial district is a spectacular 14th century covered market known as Leadenhall. The market is open weekdays from 10am to 6pm but you can walk through the beautiful ornate structure when the shops are closed and fewer people are around to clutter up your photos.
The market was made part of the 2012 London Olympic marathon course with runners passing through the heart of the structure on the cobblestone streets, this obviously brought much more attention to location and with it more tourists as the day progresses, but if you go early you'll get some great shots before the tourists have had their breakfast.
Leadenhall is one of the oldest markets in london and primarily sells food but there are clothes shops, pen shops and others within the covered structure. The market began life selling meat, game and poultry in Roman London and has remained in situ in one guise or another since then. It is featured in numerous films including the Harry Potter' series and of course music videos from various artists.
The inside has a tremendous warmth generated by the yellow lighting over crimson and cream decor which was designed in 1881 by Sir Horace Jones (the architect of both Billingsgate and Smithfield markets) and last had a major overhaul in 1990/91, the year the pop group 'Erasure' used the market extensively for the music video to their song 'Love to Hate You' which can still be seen on YouTube for those interested.
Leadenhall is a great location to stop off for a drink and a bite to eat if you are in the area but (to me at least) is worth a trip all on it's own.
The market was made part of the 2012 London Olympic marathon course with runners passing through the heart of the structure on the cobblestone streets, this obviously brought much more attention to location and with it more tourists as the day progresses, but if you go early you'll get some great shots before the tourists have had their breakfast.
Leadenhall is one of the oldest markets in london and primarily sells food but there are clothes shops, pen shops and others within the covered structure. The market began life selling meat, game and poultry in Roman London and has remained in situ in one guise or another since then. It is featured in numerous films including the Harry Potter' series and of course music videos from various artists.
The inside has a tremendous warmth generated by the yellow lighting over crimson and cream decor which was designed in 1881 by Sir Horace Jones (the architect of both Billingsgate and Smithfield markets) and last had a major overhaul in 1990/91, the year the pop group 'Erasure' used the market extensively for the music video to their song 'Love to Hate You' which can still be seen on YouTube for those interested.
Leadenhall is a great location to stop off for a drink and a bite to eat if you are in the area but (to me at least) is worth a trip all on it's own.