NEW MUSEUM
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Introduction
New Museum Media Pack
WelcOme tO the museum Of lOndOn
It is with particular
and pride
that time
I welcome
to the Museum
of London
Nowpleasure
is the most
exciting
in theyou
Museum
of London’s
history. We
areSeason.
thriving
and it’s with
because
of ournew
successes
thatThe
bigCheapside
change is needed.
and our Jewellery
Beginning
the major
exhibition,
the past
few
years
we have grown our
annual visitor
numbers
Hoard: London’sOver
Lost Jewels,
our
spell
of jewellery-inspired
exhibitions
and events
to over one million. Since we challenged ourselves to Engage Every
London Schoolchild 250,000 school pupils have enjoyed our Learning
phenomenal world
city and theand
people
whomaximising
live here. our income. But we are hitting
Programmes,
we are
capacity and our ability to grow to meet the demand that exists for our
Who would have believed that so close to what was to become the eventual
edgy type of history is limited at our present site on London Wall. We are
location of the museum
lay a collection
of jewels
of such importance
and
beauty, entrance,
constrained,
by a solid-brick
roundabout,
an almost
invisible
undiscovered, inand
theby
depths
of a Tudor
cellar on
Cheapside.
1912 was the year in
an aging
and failing
1970’s
building.
marks a thrilling new chapter in our quest to tell the ever-changing story of this
which the hoard was brought to the surface, then to much acclaim and public
with exhibitions
such
asinthe
Cheapside
interest. 2013 is We
the have
year ithad,
will huge
go on successes
display, altogether
for the first
time
over
Hoard and Sherlock Holmes, we are all over the GLA’s London Curriculum
and we have great things planned, such as The Crime Museum
Thereperhaps
is just so
muchthe
more
we could do
for Londoners
and
The story of theUncovered.
Cheapside Hoard
reflects
ever-changing
nature
of
visitors to London. By moving we will be able to increase our visitors to 2
London and discovery goes to the heart of what we are about at the Museum of
million per year, we will be able to stand more firmly on our own two feet
London. So much
happenedmore
in theofcapital
thatincome,
we can barely
contain
it within
byhas
generating
our own
we will
be able
to display more of
this museum. From
the
London
Shakespeare’s
to theand at long
the Roman
LondonLondinium
Collectionand
and
we’ll
haveofgreat
exhibitionday,
spaces
grand welcoming
entrance.
splendour of an last
18thaCentury
Pleasure Garden
and the Suffragette’s struggle for the
100 years.
Sharon Ament
Director, Museum of London
vote, this building is packed with tantalising tales that make up this world-class city.
Working together with the City of London Corporation and Greater
Like London itself
we areAuthority
changing, we
withwill
ambitious
plans
toarea
double
our visitor cultural hub
London
help make
the
a world-class
together
our
partners
the Barbican
Arts of
Centre
and Guildhall
numbers over the
next fivewith
years
and
to maximise
the potential
our London
School of Music & Drama.
Wall site, radically upgrading the space and extending our reach as a creative and
learning hub for London and beyond.
We have an infectious passion for London and I look forward to welcoming many
visitors to see The Cheapside Hoard: London’s Lost Jewels as we unravel some of
the mysteries that surround this incredible stash of buried treasure.
Sharon Ament
Director of the Museum of London
Now is the most exciting time in
the Museum of London’s history.
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Chairman
London is the greatest city in the world and deserves an equally vibrant
and exciting museum. It is our ambition to create a museum which does
exactly that. It is our ambition to put more artefacts on display, host
more temporary exhibitions and welcome annually over two million
guests from the UK and beyond. Smithfield General Market has the
greatest potential to make these ambitions real; and I look forward
to the Museum of London inhabiting this historic site in the future.
Clive Bannister
Chairman, Museum of London
London is the greatest city
in the world and deserves
an equally vibrant and
exciting museum.
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History of Smithfield
Smithfield is one of London’s special places. Its lanes, alleys and courts on
the edge of the market still follow a medieval street plan. Smithfield has
its own distinctive character and feel. The bumarees or market porters
with their white coats and hats, often smeared with blood, mingle with
office and hospital workers. It is a locality at work both day and night. In
the evenings, crowds spill out from the pubs and bars while drivers park
lorries laden with meat ready for the early morning market.
Smithfield has a long history and there has been a market here for
over 800 years. The name is a corruption of the words ‘smooth field’
reflecting its natural topography as a flat and open area. Located to the
north-west beyond the walls and hustle and bustle of the city, it became
a popular meeting place. It was a venue for weekly sales of horses and
other animals from at least the late twelfth century. It was where royal
tournaments and jousts were held as well as St Bartholomew’s Fair in
August, one of England’s largest annual public events. The locality had
a darker side also as it was where heretics were burnt at the stake. The
Scottish patriot, William Wallace, was hanged, drawn and quartered at
Smithfield and Wat Tyler, leader of the peasant’s revolt, was killed here in
front of Richard II.
A number of important religious foundations surrounded Smithfield.
To the north, there was the nunnery of St Mary Clerkenwell, the
Knight’s Hospitaller priory of St John Clerkenwell and the Carthusian
Charterhouse while to the south the Augustinian priory and hospital of
St Bartholomew. These religious houses and their precincts have shaped
the locality and even after the dissolution of the monasteries, their
presence has been retained through roads and boundaries lines as well
as a number of spectacular buildings.
As London’s population grew so the livestock market expanded.
Smithfield became enclosed on all sides by buildings and by the early
seventeenth century the space had been paved. Congestion in the
streets became intolerable as herds of cattle and sheep were driven to
the market. The stench from the slaughterhouses in the vicinity and the
cacophony of cries of the animals and market traders was described
vividly by Charles Dickens in a famous passage in Oliver Twist.
In 1855, the livestock market at Smithfield closed and moved out to the
Metropolitan Cattle Market just off the Caledonian Road. In 1860, the
Corporation of London embarked on a massive construction project at
Smithfield. Designed by the City’s architect, Sir Horace Jones, a vast
new meat market was opened in 1868. Its impressive central arcade
was marked with statues representing London, Edinburgh, Dublin and
Liverpool and at the four corners of the building stood octagonal towers
with domed roofs. Underground were railway sidings where meat
discharged from railway waggons was lifted up on large hydraulic lifts
to the market floor. This was certainly a market of the industrial age.
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Such was the success of the operation that a large poultry market was
added to the west in 1873 in the same architectural style followed by
further market buildings in the 1880s for general produce including
vegetables, fruit and fish. The growth of the frozen meat trade which
expanded rapidly in the late nineteenth and early twenty century led to
the construction of enormous cold stores in the vicinity of Smithfield.
Gradually all the market buildings were given over to the frozen, chilled
and fresh meat and poultry trade.
A war memorial at Smithfield Market commemorates the memory of the
men, women and children of Smithfield who lost their lives in the two
World Wars. At the end of the Second World War, on 8 March 1945, a V2
rocket hit a building on the corner of Charterhouse Street and Farringdon
Road opposite the General Market. The damage was extensive and
110 people died and many more injured including women and children
queuing up to buy meat.
The Smithfield market has been modernised in recent years. A serious
fire destroyed the Poultry Market in 1958 and a new building was opened
in 1963 with the largest clear spanning concrete dome roof in Europe.
The main East and West Market were renovated in the 1990s by the
Corporation of London to meet stricter meat cutting and operational
practices with sealed loading bays, new stalls and chiller rooms. The
Grade II* listed building has been painted in its dramatic original
Victorian colours of pink, blue and purple.
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Quotes
New Museum Media Pack
Mark Boleat
Chairman of the Policy
and Resources Committee,
City of London Corporation
Boris Johnson
Mayor of London
Munira Mirza
Deputy Mayor for
Education and Culture
Sally Balcombe
CEO of VisitBritain and
Museum of London Governor
“Although much has yet
to be settled, it is clear that a
renewed Museum of London
will be a key part of the
evolving Cultural Hub in the
north-west Square Mile. Such
a renewed museum will be
a major asset not just for
London but for the whole UK.”
“The Museum of London tells
the incredible story of this
great city through its unique
and exceptional collection.
The London 2012 cauldron,
the head of Serapis found in
the Temple of Mithras, the
Cheapside Hoard and the
original lift from Selfridges
are just some of the objects
held by this cultural gem, but
it desperately needs more
space. In its new home at
Smithfield General Market
the Museum of London
will be able to unleash its
full potential to attract
millions of people each year
and work with even more
schoolchildren.”
“The Museum of London is
a hugely important cultural
asset for our city. Through
its unrivalled collections,
galleries and exhibitions, it
can tell the story of London
better than anyone else.
A new home at Smithfield
General Market is a brilliant
idea, and will ensure the
museum becomes a must see
destination for visitors, not
just from London, but also the
UK and the rest of the world.
It will also enable the museum
to build on its outstanding
education programme, which
is already benefiting young
Londoners across the capital.”
“There is enormous potential
for the Museum of London
in Smithfield General Market
to attract millions of UK and
foreign visitors every year, as
well as creating cultural and
economic benefit for local
area, London and the UK as a
whole. London deserves a city
museum befitting its status
as the world’s most visited
destination. The Museum of
London has the vision and
ability to deliver this.”
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Images
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Map
New Museum Media Pack
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Further information
For media enquiries please contact the
Museum of London press office on
020 7814 5502/11
[email protected]
Images and interviews are available on request.
The public can find information on
www.museum.london
And keep up to date with news on our social media channels:
@MuseumofLondon
facebook.com/museumoflondon
A video supporting this vision is available for media to embed:
youtube.com/museumoflondon
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