Farringdon Without
Snow Hill Police Station
5 Snow Hill
London EC1A 2DP
Your Ward's Priorities
Overview & brief
history
The area north of this ward runs from Charterhouse Street in the
north to Long Lane and Giltspur Street in the south, with Holborn
Viaduct on the east and Aldersgate Street on the west, and is
largely dominated by Smithfield Meat Market.
Smithfield Meat Market is the largest wholesale meat market in
the UK, handling in the region of 108,000 tonnes of meat of all
kinds annually; the site dominates the eastern end of Farringdon
Ward. The market, as it now appears, was built and opened in 1867,
designed ingeniously to handle thousands of horse and carts per
day. Recently the market has undergone a £70 million refurbishment
to equip it for modern hygiene standards and traffic
regulations.
The history of the market is long, colourful and varied. The
first record of its existence appears in 1187 when William
Fiztstephen, clerk to Thomas a Becket described the area as ‘a
smooth field where every Friday there is a celebrated rendezvous of
fine horse to be sold and in another quarter are placed vendibles
of the peasant, swine with their deep flanks and cows and oxen of
immense bulk’. Indeed, the name Smithfield came from a
corruption of ‘Smeth field’ Saxon for smooth field.
Although there is no longer a livestock market on the site,
fresh meat has been sold here continuously since 1327, when Edward
III granted a royal warrant for the sale of meat.
The market is still a thriving commercial enterprise handling
thousands of tons of meat per week with thousands of buyers,
restaurateurs and caterers visiting on a daily basis. Opening hours
of the market are 0200hrs till approx 0900hrs Mon to Fri. Visitors
are advised to allow traffic congestion if travelling through the
area during this time, as now it is no longer horses and carts that
the market caters for but 40ft articulated lorries from all over
Europe.
The City of London Police is responsible for the policing of the
market, with the assistance of the Market Constabulary.
The Temple area of Farringdon Without ward covers the area west
of Temple Avenue to the edge of the City boundary, and South of
Fleet Street to the river Thames, including Victoria Embankment. It
encompasses the Temple area, both Inner and Middle Inns, with its
high profile buildings, employees and small resident population.
There are many multinational companies based in the area, various
retail outlets and an ever increasing selection of cafes, bars,
coffee shops and public houses around Fleet Street.Annual events on
the ward are the London Marathon, Temple garden parties, Lord
Mayor’s Show, firework display, Thames Day festival and New Year's
Eve celebrations.
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