History

In the 1890s the first market stalls appeared in Lewisham High Street, selling fruit, vegetables and flowers. By the early twentieth century the High Street was getting busier, with shops included Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s, and Chiesman’s department store. The market stalls occupied the same position they do today, in a line in front of the shops. Like street markets across London at this date, the Lewisham stalls did not have licences or legal recognition, but were part of the informal economy. The council thought that they caused ‘serious obstruction’ and made several attempts to move them from the High Street.

Not everyone in Lewisham disliked the market; some shopkeepers supported it because it brought footfall of customers, and many shoppers liked the cheap prices and fresh goods. Across London, it was recognised that street markets were essential in supplying good food at reasonable prices. In 1927, London’s street markets were finally legalised, but in Lewisham the council didn’t issue licences until 1934. Many of the stallholders licensed were from families who still have stalls in Lewisham market today. They have been joined by traders from the borough’s diverse and changing communities, and have weathered events including a direct hit from a wartime bomb and the transformation of the shops and infrastructure around them.

The tour

This walking tour will uncover the rich but overlooked history of Lewisham market, drawing on materials from Lewisham archives. We will explore the ongoing capacity of the fluid architecture of temporary stalls to enliven space and create place, and share stories of the market’s people and communities. The tour will look at Lewisham council's current transformation of the market with a glass canopy, discuss the plans for a new Lewisham shopping centre, and we hope to take a peek at the Model Market, a thriving hub for the Afro-Caribbean community in the 1980s and 90s, which is about to be re-opened as a street food venue. The tour will be led by the Stall Tales team from University for the Creative Arts; we are working with Lewisham Heritage and Lewisham Council on a community history of the market, funded by the National Archives and AHRC.

Practicalities

The tour will take place in Lewisham High Street on a Saturday; expect a busy urban environment, with noise from sellers and shoppers, and crowded pavements partially constricted by current work to build a new glass canopy over one section of the market's site. We will meet in the market, at the main entrance to Lewisham shopping centre.