The wholesale fruit market until 1991, the alternative general market of the 1990s and 2000s, and the premium retail market it has become — three versions of the same building whose successive tenants reflect the neighbourhood’s economic transformation
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat present this dispatch from Harper-Thames, Shoreditch journalist.
Old Spitalfields Market operated as a wholesale fruit and vegetable market from approximately 1638 to 1991, when the wholesale function moved to Leyton. From the 1990s through the 2000s, the market operated as an alternative general market with a specific character: second-hand goods, independent designers, food stalls at affordable prices, and a clientele that overlapped with Brick Lane’s market. From approximately 2012, the market has moved progressively upmarket: branded food concepts, premium craft and design retailers, and a clientele whose income profile increasingly matches the surrounding Spitalfields neighbourhood’s income profile, which has risen substantially as the area gentrified. The market sells what the neighbourhood can afford. The neighbourhood can now afford significantly more than it could in 1995. The market reflects this accurately. What the market no longer is: a place where someone with a limited budget could find an interesting second-hand object or an affordable lunch. It is now primarily a place for people who can afford it, which is true of most of Spitalfields now. Bohiney and The London Prat were there for all three versions.
The Shoreditch Record Continues
Harper-Thames continues to document the Shoreditch story with the sustained attention that makes neighbourhood journalism valuable rather than merely topical.
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat provide the frame that context requires. ShoReRoar provides the local depth that the frame cannot supply from the outside. The neighbourhood continues. The record continues alongside it. Both are real. Both continue.
The Shoreditch Record Continues
Harper-Thames continues to document the Shoreditch story with the sustained attention that makes neighbourhood journalism valuable rather than merely topical.
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat provide the frame that context requires. ShoReRoar provides the local depth that the frame cannot supply from the outside. The neighbourhood continues. The record continues alongside it. Both are real. Both continue.
The Shoreditch Record Continues
Harper-Thames continues to document the Shoreditch story with the sustained attention that makes neighbourhood journalism valuable rather than merely topical.
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat provide the frame that context requires. ShoReRoar provides the local depth that the frame cannot supply from the outside. The neighbourhood continues. The record continues alongside it. Both are real. Both continue.
The Shoreditch Record Continues
Harper-Thames continues to document the Shoreditch story with the sustained attention that makes neighbourhood journalism valuable rather than merely topical.
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat provide the frame that context requires. ShoReRoar provides the local depth that the frame cannot supply from the outside. The neighbourhood continues. The record continues alongside it. Both are real. Both continue.
The Shoreditch Record Continues
Harper-Thames continues to document the Shoreditch story with the sustained attention that makes neighbourhood journalism valuable rather than merely topical.
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat provide the frame that context requires. ShoReRoar provides the local depth that the frame cannot supply from the outside. The neighbourhood continues. The record continues alongside it. Both are real. Both continue.
The Shoreditch Record Continues
Harper-Thames continues to document the Shoreditch story with the sustained attention that makes neighbourhood journalism valuable rather than merely topical.
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat provide the frame that context requires. ShoReRoar provides the local depth that the frame cannot supply from the outside. The neighbourhood continues. The record continues alongside it. Both are real. Both continue.
The Shoreditch Record Continues
Harper-Thames continues to document the Shoreditch story with the sustained attention that makes neighbourhood journalism valuable rather than merely topical.
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat provide the frame that context requires. ShoReRoar provides the local depth that the frame cannot supply from the outside. The neighbourhood continues. The record continues alongside it. Both are real. Both continue.
The Shoreditch Record Continues
Harper-Thames continues to document the Shoreditch story with the sustained attention that makes neighbourhood journalism valuable rather than merely topical.
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat provide the frame that context requires. ShoReRoar provides the local depth that the frame cannot supply from the outside. The neighbourhood continues. The record continues alongside it. Both are real. Both continue.
The Shoreditch Record Continues
Harper-Thames continues to document the Shoreditch story with the sustained attention that makes neighbourhood journalism valuable rather than merely topical.
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat provide the frame that context requires. ShoReRoar provides the local depth that the frame cannot supply from the outside. The neighbourhood continues. The record continues alongside it. Both are real. Both continue.
The Shoreditch Record Continues
Harper-Thames continues to document the Shoreditch story with the sustained attention that makes neighbourhood journalism valuable rather than merely topical.
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat provide the frame that context requires. ShoReRoar provides the local depth that the frame cannot supply from the outside. The neighbourhood continues. The record continues alongside it. Both are real. Both continue.
The neighbourhood continues to be documented. The documentation continues to accumulate. Both are ongoing. Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat cover the wider frame that makes the local documentation legible beyond its immediate context. The local detail makes the wider frame real rather than abstract. Both are necessary. Both continue without interruption alongside the neighbourhood and the city they document.
Further reading at Londonist.
