{{Short description|London Street Market}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Use British English|date=June 2015}} {{Infobox retail market | retail_market_name = Earlham Street Market | image = File:Hat stall Earlham Street.jpg | image_width = | caption = A hat stall on Earlham Street market | location = [[Covent Garden]], Camden, Greater London | coordinates = {{Coord|51.5138|-0.1261|region:GB-CMD_type:landmark|display=title, inline}} | address = [[Earlham Street]] | opening_date = {{start date and age|1710|df=y|p=yes}} | manager = [[Camden London Borough Council]] | owner = Camden London Borough Council | environment_type = Outdoor | goods_sold = General goods, food | normal_market_days = Monday–Saturday | number_of_tenants = 24 | floor_area = | parking = | website = {{URL|www.camden.gov.uk/markets}} |map_type=United Kingdom London Camden|map_relief=no}}
'''Earlham Street Market''' is a [[Street markets in London|street market]] in situated in the [[Seven Dials, London|Seven Dials]] area of [[Covent Garden]] on a short road between [[Shaftesbury Avenue]] and [[Monmouth Street]]. [[Street trading licence|Licences to trade]] are issued by [[Camden London Borough Council]].
The market has street food and clothing for sale.
It has 24 pitches and is open from Monday to Saturday, 10.00 to 16.00.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.nmtf.co.uk/market-near-me/earlham-street-market |title = Earlham Street Market |website = The National Market Traders Federation |access-date = 20 July 2020 }}</ref>
==History==
=== Early history (1710–1867) ===
The street was completed in 1710 and it is likely that the market dates from then.<ref name="harriss">{{cite book |last = Harriss |first = Phil |year = 1996 |title = London Markets |language = en |edition = 1st |location = London |publisher = Cadogan Books |isbn = 1-86011-040-1 |pages = 35–37 }}</ref> Unregulated street markets allowed London to grow explosively in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The traders could move easily to the new population centres and enabled people to buy provisions without having to travel to the central London wholesale markets. In the early morning traders would load their barrows at the wholesale markets, clean and sort the goods, and then sell them in the new suburban streets. In many cases, the sites of these markets became London's modern high streets.
=== Management by the police (1867–1927) ===
[[File:The Cheap Fish of St-Giles (6678956803).jpg|thumb|left|Fisher seller on Earlham Street in the 1870s]]
In 1867, section six of the Metropolitan Streets Act effectively prohibited street trading. Following public meetings and press criticism, the act was amended within weeks. Section one of the Metropolitan Streets Act Amendment Act 1867 exempted traders but they were now subject to regulation by the police.<ref>{{cite book|date=1867|title=Metropolitan Streets Act Amendment Act 1867 (section one)]|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/31-32/5/section/1|location=London|publisher=HMSO}}</ref>
In 1877 Adolphe Thompson describes the market as crowded with traders and being between the Seven Dials and Five Dials (now demolished to make way for [[Shaftesbury Avenue]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Adolphe |last2=Thomson |first2=John |author-link2=John Thomson (photographer) |name-list-style = amp |date=1877 |title=Street Life in London |url=https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections/list/collections/5 |location=London |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington |pages=58–59 }}</ref>
In 1892 the market consisted of 41 stalls of which 12 were operated by shopkeepers and the remainder by independent street traders. The market was greatly diminished from its former size.
The Market is described as "having existed beyond memory" and being "a marketing centre for the district".<ref>{{cite report |title = London Markets, Special Report of the Public Control Committee Relative to Existing Markets and Market Rights and as to the Expediency of Establishing New Markets in or Near the Administrative County of London |author = Public Control Committee |author-link = London County Council |publisher = London County Council |location = London |year = 1893 |chapter = Appendix B |page = 44 }}</ref>
=== Management by local councils (1927–present) ===
==== Metropolitan Borough of Holborn (1927–1965) ====
The ''London County Council (General Powers) Act 1927'' replaced police regulation with a new [[Street trading licence|licensing]] regime administered by [[Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London|metropolitan borough councils]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kelley|first=Victoria|date=2019|title=Cheap Street: London's Street Markets and the Cultures of Informality, c. 1850–1939|url=https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections/list/collections/5|location=Manchester|publisher=Manchester University Press|page=39}}</ref> From 1927 to 1965 the market was managed by the [[Metropolitan Borough of Holborn]].
==== London Borough of Camden (1965–present) ====
[[London Government Act 1963|In 1965 the Borough of Holborn was abolished]] and its area became part of the [[London Borough of Camden]].
Perlmutter records the market having 22 pitches in 1983 but that they were largely unoccupied. He lists fresh seafood, antiques, and vintage records for sale.<ref>{{cite book |last = Perlmutter |first = Kevin |year = 1983 |title = London Street Markets |language = en |edition = 1st |location = Worcester |publisher = Billing & Sons |isbn = 0-7045-0462-6 |page = 53 }}</ref>
In the mid-1990s the market is described as consisting of 12 stalls selling army surplus, clothing new and second hand, wooden toys, and recorded music.<ref name="harriss" />
==Transport==
===Bus===
Bus Routes [[London Buses route 14|14]], [[London Buses route 19|19]], [[London Buses route 24|24]], [[London Buses route 29|29]], and [[London Buses route 176|176]].
===Railway and tube===
The nearest stations are [[Covent Garden tube station|Covent Garden]] {{rint|london|piccadilly}} and [[Leicester Square tube station|Leicester Square]] {{rint|London|northern}}{{rint|london|piccadilly}}.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.camden.gov.uk/markets/ Camden Council's street markets page], the operator of Earlham Street Market * [https://www.nmtf.co.uk/market-near-me/earlham-street-market/ Earlham Street Market—National Market Traders Federation]
{{LB Camden}} {{Markets in London}}
[[Category:Retail markets in London]] [[Category:18th-century establishments in England]] [[Category:Streets in the City of Westminster]] [[Category:Covent Garden]]