This is a postcard so I’ll just keep it to snippets I’ve picked up during wanderings around this part of London.

I love the Smithfield area. To me it still has real character. It feels individual and properly alive, with some of its medieval roots still visible thanks to being spared by the Great Fire of London in 1666. It also seems to have resisted the need to stagger upwards into high-rise and glass, or to fill itself with corporate chains.

The old market itself is divided into many parts. Last night we walked through the section that links Long Lane to the start of Cow Cross Street. It felt a little quieter than usual, perhaps because the market is preparing for relocation. Its buildings are due to be taken over by the Museum of London.

Strange to think that the market’s been there since at least 1381, when the old city banned the slaughter of livestock within its walls, and forced the trade out to Smoothfield. Smoothfield then became Smithfield, and Smithfield became increasingly associated with butchery. Crowds of animals came and went, either alive or as carcasses. So did a number of men and women – some being tortured, some burned, some executed, and others hung, drawn, and quartered. Quite gruesome, but it wasn’t all like that.

The medieval priory of St Bartholomew’s used to be on the other side of Smithfield. It flourished until Henry VIII took against it, but thankfully its hospital and one of its old churches survived, both of them flourishing again and celebrating their 900th anniversary this year.

Maybe it’s their prayers and healing that have balanced out the bloody scars, leaving the soul of Smithfield at peace.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023