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47-577: Billingsgate Fish Market is the United Kingdom's largest inland fish market . It takes its name from Billingsgate , a ward in the south-east corner of the City of London , where the riverside market was originally established. In its original location in the 19th century, Billingsgate was the largest fish market in the world. The current market is located off Trafalgar Way in Poplar , east London - at

94-653: A liveryman . In 1801, the City had a population of about 130,000, but increasing development of the City as a central business district led to this falling to below 5,000 after the Second World War. It has risen slightly to around 9,000 since, largely due to the development of the Barbican Estate . As it has not been affected by other municipal legislation over the period of time since then, its electoral practice has become increasingly anomalous. Therefore,

141-533: A British, Irish, Commonwealth or EU citizen. Common Council elections are held every four years, most recently in March 2022. Common councilmen may use the postnominals CC. Each year, the common councilmen elect one of their number to serve as Chief Commoner, an honorific office which 'serves to recognise the distinguished contribution the office holder is likely to have made to the City Corporation over

188-576: A citizen of the United Kingdom, or a Commonwealth country, and either: Each body or organisation, whether unincorporated or incorporated, whose premises are within the City of London may appoint a number of voters based on the number of workers it employs. Limited liability partnerships fall into this category. Bodies employing fewer than ten workers may appoint one voter, those employing ten to fifty workers may appoint one voter for every five; those employing more than fifty workers may appoint ten voters and one additional voter for every fifty workers beyond

235-455: A company; it is deemed to be the citizens and other eligible parties acting as one corporate body to manage the City's affairs. Both businesses and residents of the City, or "Square Mile", are entitled to vote in corporation elections. In addition to its functions as the local authority (analogous to those undertaken by the 32 boroughs that administer the rest of Greater London ) the City of London Corporation takes responsibility for supporting

282-517: A list of fish market articles .) Corporation of London Sadiq Khan ( L ) Statutory Deputy Mayor Joanne McCartney ( L/Co ) London Assembly Lord Mayor Peter Estlin London boroughs ( list ) Vacant The City of London Corporation , officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London , is the local authority of the City of London ,

329-615: A period of years.' The Chief Commoner is expected to champion the Court of Common Council, to work to uphold its rights and privileges, and to offer advice and counsel to its members. They also represent the court on various different committees, support the lord mayor in the business of the Corporation and are prominently present on ceremonial occasions. The Chief Commoner is elected in October of each year and holds office for one year from

376-602: Is complex: as the corporation itself says: "The right of the City to run its own affairs was gradually won as concessions were gained from the Crown. Both the Guildhall Historical Association and Paul Jagger, author of The City of London Freeman's Guide and City of London: Secrets of the Square Mile explain that it is incorrect to say that this is a symbol of the submission of the Crown to

423-670: Is done by an Act of Common Council. Local government legislation often makes special provision for the City to be treated as a London borough and for the Common Council to act as a local authority. The Corporation does not have general authority over the Middle Temple and the Inner Temple , two of the Inns of Court adjoining the west of the City which are historic extra-parochial areas , but many statutory functions of

470-414: Is now sold to consumers through these venues, like most other foodstuffs . Consequently, most major fish markets now mainly deal with wholesale trade, and the existing major fish retail markets continue to operate as much for traditional reasons as for commercial ones. Both types of fish markets are often tourist attractions as well. The following is an incomplete list of notable fish markets. (See also

517-471: Is open from Tuesday to Saturday. Trading commences at 4 a.m. and finishes at 8:30 a.m. Security for the market is provided by the private Market Constabulary . Traditionally, the only people allowed to move fish around the market were licensed fish porters. The role dates back at least to Henry VIII , and was officially recognised by the Corporation of London in 1632. In 2012, a bitter battle

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564-555: Is quick to spoil , fish markets are historically most often found in seaside towns. Once ice or other simple cooling methods became available, some were also established in large inland cities that had good trade routes to the coast. Since refrigeration and rapid transport became available in the 19th and 20th century, fish markets can technically be established at any place. However, because modern trade logistics in general has shifted away from marketplaces and towards retail outlets, such as supermarkets , most seafood worldwide

611-632: Is undoubtedly the case that we have more tradition and pageantry than most", for example the yearly Lord Mayor's Show . There are eight formal ceremonies involving the Corporation: The historic ceremony of the monarch halting at Temple Bar and being met by the lord mayor, also called the Pearl Sword Ceremony , has often featured in art and literature. It is commented on in televised coverage of modern-day royal ceremonial processions. Tax journalist Nicholas Shaxson described

658-472: The City of London Police – separate from the Metropolitan Police , which polices the remainder of Greater London. Each ward may choose a number of common councilmen. A common councilman must be a registered voter in a City ward, own a freehold or lease land in the City, or reside in the City for the year prior to the election. The individual must also be over 21; a Freeman of the City ; and

705-509: The Corporation obtained an Act to rebuild and enlarge the market, which was done to plans by Bunning's successor as City architect Sir Horace Jones . The new site covered almost twice the area of the old, incorporating Billingsgate Stairs and Wharf and Darkhouse Lane. Work began in 1874, and the new market was opened by the Lord Mayor on 20 July 1877. The new buildings , Italianate in style, had on their long frontages towards Thames Street

752-573: The Isle of Dogs in Poplar , close to Canary Wharf and Blackwall . The freehold owner of the site is the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , but the City of London Corporation still runs the market; they pay an annual ground rent stipulated in an agreement between the two councils as "the gift of one fish". Most of the fish sold through the market now arrives there by road, from ports as far afield as Aberdeen and Cornwall . Billingsgate Market

799-579: The Norman Conquest , and the Corporation's first recorded royal charter dates from around 1067, when William the Conqueror granted the citizens of London a charter confirming the rights and privileges that they had enjoyed since the time of Edward the Confessor . Numerous subsequent royal charters over the centuries confirmed and extended the citizens' rights. Around 1189, the City gained

846-498: The non-residential vote (or business vote ), abolished in the rest of the country in 1969 , became an increasingly large part of the electorate. The non-residential vote system used disfavoured incorporated companies. The City of London (Ward Elections) Act 2002 greatly increased the business franchise, allowing many more businesses to be represented. In 2009, the business vote was about 24,000, greatly exceeding residential voters. Eligible voters must be at least 18 years old and

893-465: The City of London to the Corporation. A separate Commission of Sewers was created for the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, and as well as the construction of drains it had responsibility for the prevention of flooding; paving, cleaning and lighting the City of London's streets; and churchyards and burials. The individual commissioners were previously nominated by the Corporation, but it

940-412: The City of London in Common Council assembled . The "Court" is the primary decision-making body of the City of London Corporation and meets nine times per year, though most of its work is carried out by committees. The Common Council is the police authority for the City of London, a police area that covers the City including the Inner Temple and Middle Temple and which has its own police force –

987-611: The City, due to their residence in that district, maintain the right to vote in their 'home' district. The City of London is divided into twenty-five wards , each of which is an electoral division, electing one alderman and a number of councilmen based on the size of the electorate. The numbers below reflect the changes caused by the City of London (Ward Elections) Act and a recent ward boundary review. There are over one hundred livery companies in London. The companies originated as guilds or trade associations. The senior members of

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1034-571: The City, with Jagger writing: The Sovereign does not ask to be admitted. The carriage bearing the King or Queen does not halt without the bar, but drives straight across the boundary and halts just within the City. [...] Can the Press be deflected from their story of the Sovereign asking permission to enter the City! It has been repeated for well over a century. [...] The ceremony is an acknowledgement by

1081-465: The Corporation and a corresponding need to raise local taxes from the commoners, the Common Council grew in importance and has been the principal governing body of the City of London since the 18th century. In January 1898, the Common Council gained the full right to collect local rates when the City of London Sewers Act 1897 transferred the powers and duties of the Commissioners of Sewers of

1128-512: The Corporation are extended into these two areas. The chief executive of the administrative side of the Corporation holds the ancient office of Town Clerk of London . Because of its accumulated wealth and responsibilities, the Corporation has a number of officers and officials unique to its structure who enjoy more autonomy than most local council officials, and each of whom has a separate budget: There are others: The first direct elections to Common Council took place in 1384. Before that date

1175-722: The Folkmoot. Administration and judicial processes were conducted at the Court of Husting and the administrative part of the court's work evolved into the Court of Aldermen. There is no surviving record of a charter first establishing the corporation as a legal body, but the City is regarded as incorporated by prescription, meaning that the law presumes it to have been incorporated because it has for so long been regarded as such (e.g. Magna Carta states that "the City of London shall have/enjoy its ancient liberties"). The City of London Corporation has been granted various special privileges since

1222-458: The Sheriffs are chosen for terms of one year. The Lord Mayor fulfils several roles: The ancient and continuing office of Lord Mayor of London (with responsibility for the City of London) should not be confused with the office of Mayor of London (responsible for the whole of Greater London and created in 2000). The role of Lord Mayor of London is largely ceremonial. Political leadership on

1269-528: The ceremony in an article in the New Statesman : Whenever The Queen makes a State entry to the City, she meets a red cord raised by City police at Temple Bar, and then engages in a colourful ceremony involving the Lord Mayor, his Sword , assorted Aldermen and Sheriffs, and a character called the Remembrancer. In this ceremony, the Lord Mayor recognises The Queen's authority, but the relationship

1316-450: The corporation is instead provided by the chair of the policy and resources committee (also known as the policy chairman), who is sometimes described as the "de facto political leader". The policy chairman represents the City on the leaders' committee of London Councils , alongside the leaders of the 32 London Boroughs. Since 1984, the policy chairmen have been: Stuart Fraser, the Corporation's Deputy Policy chairman wrote in 2011 "it

1363-592: The eastern end of the North Dock of the West India Docks . Billingsgate Wharf, close to Lower Thames Street , became the centre of a fish market during the 16th and 17th centuries but did not become formally established until the Billingsgate, etc. Act 1698 ( 10 Will. 3 . c. 13). In 1850, the market, according to Horace Jones, "consisted only of shed buildings ... The open space on the north of

1410-669: The financial services industry and representing its interests. The corporation's structure includes the Lord Mayor , the Court of Aldermen , the Court of Common Council , and the Freemen and Livery of the City. The "Liberties and Customs" of the City of London are guaranteed in Magna Carta 's clause IX, which remains in statute. In the Anglo-Saxon period, consultation between London's rulers and its citizens took place at

1457-434: The first fifty. Though workers count as part of a workforce regardless of nationality, only certain individuals may be appointed as voters. Under section 5 of the City of London (Ward Elections) Act 2002 , the following are eligible to be appointed as voters (the qualifying date is 1 September of the year of the election): Voters appointed by businesses who are also entitled to vote in a local authority district other than

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1504-416: The following April. The work of the City of London Corporation is primarily carried out through a range of committees: The Lord Mayor of London and the two Sheriffs are chosen by liverymen meeting at Common Hall. Sheriffs, who serve as assistants to the Lord Mayor, are chosen on Midsummer Day . The Lord Mayor, who must have previously been a Sheriff, is chosen on Michaelmas . Both the Lord Mayor and

1551-468: The great Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, which turns over about 660,000 tonnes a year. The term fish market can also refer to the process of fish marketing in general, but this article is concerned with physical marketplaces. Fish markets were known in antiquity. They served as a public space where large numbers of people could gather and discuss current events and local politics . Because seafood

1598-550: The historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom 's financial sector . In 2006, the name was changed from Corporation of London as the corporate body needed to be distinguished from the geographical area to avoid confusion with the wider London local government, the Greater London Authority . It is a corporation in the sense of being a municipal corporation rather than

1645-432: The livery companies, known as liverymen , form a special electorate known as Common Hall. Common Hall is the body that chooses the lord mayor, the sheriffs and certain other City officers. Wards originally elected aldermen for life, but the term is now only six years. Aldermen may, if they so choose, submit to an election before the six-year period ends. In any case, an election must be held no later than six years after

1692-479: The previous election. The sole qualification for the office is that aldermen must be Freemen of the City ; candidates are not required to be a resident, leaseholder or freehold owner of land in the ward in which they seek to run, nor even of the City of London. Alderman serve on the Court of Common Council concurrent with their service on the Court of Alderman. Additionally, they select the Recorder of London ,

1739-579: The proceedings of the courts of Common Council and Aldermen, begin in 1275, and are recorded in fifty volumes known as the Letter-Books of the City of London . The City of London Corporation had its privileges stripped by a writ quo warranto under Charles II in 1683, but they were later restored and confirmed by Act of Parliament under William III and Mary II in 1690, after the Glorious Revolution . With growing demands on

1786-503: The representatives of the wards had been elected by the livery companies; originally they were merely appointed by the aldermen. The City of London Corporation was not reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , because it had a more extensive electoral franchise than any other borough or city; in fact, it widened this further with its own equivalent legislation allowing one to become a freeman without being

1833-440: The right to have its own mayor, later being advanced to the degree and style of Lord Mayor of London . Over time, the Court of Aldermen sought increasing help from the City's commoners and this was eventually recognised with commoners being represented by the Court of Common Council, known by that name since at least as far back as 1376. The earliest records of the business habits of the City's chamberlains and common clerks, and

1880-430: The river, a pedimented centre and continuous arcade, flanked at each end by a pavilion tavern. The general market, on a level with Thames Street, had an area of about 30,000 square feet (2,800 m), and was covered with louvre glass roofs, 43 feet (13 m) high at the ridge. A gallery 30 feet (9.1 m) wide was allocated to the sale of dried fish, while the basement served as a market for shellfish. Electric lighting

1927-544: The senior Circuit judge on the Central Criminal Court , who sits on the Court of Alderman, and serve of boards as governors and trustees for various institutions with connections to the city. Alderman are also ex officio justices of the peace . The Court of Common Council , also known as the Common Council of the City of London , is formally referred to as the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of

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1974-425: The well-remembered Billingsgate Dock was dotted with low booths and sheds, with a range of wooden houses with a piazza in front on the west, which served the salesmen and fishmongers as shelter, and for the purposes of carrying on their trade." In that year the market was rebuilt to a design by J. B. Bunning , the City architect. Bunning's building was soon found to be insufficient for the increased trade, and in 1872

2021-517: The writer makes reference to the foul tongues of Billingsgate oyster-wives. The market is depicted during Tudor times in Rosemary Sutcliff 's 1951 children's historical novel The Armourer's House . The writer George Orwell worked at Billingsgate in the 1930s, as did the Kray twins in the 1950s. In 1982, the fish market was relocated to a new 13-acre (53,000 m) building complex on

2068-415: Was a separate body. The Corporation had earlier limited rating powers in relation to raising funds for the City of London Police , as well as the militia rate and some rates in relation to the general requirements of the Corporation. The Corporation is unique among British local authorities for its continuous legal existence over many centuries, and for having the power to alter its own constitution, which

2115-564: Was also furnished in November 1878 via 16 Jablochkoff Candles . The opening of the railways changed the nature of the trade, and by the late nineteenth century most of the fish arrived at the market via the Great Eastern Railway . The infamously coarse language of London fishmongers made "Billingsgate" a byword for crude or vulgar language. One of its earliest uses can be seen in a 1577 chronicle by Raphael Holinshed , where

2162-645: Was expected to become operational in 2027/2028, when the Billingsgate Market site would be available for redevelopment. However, in November 2024, the council announced it did not intend to proceed with these plans as they were no longer economically viable; instead, Billingsgate Fish Market and Smithfield Market would close in or after 2028 with no replacements. 51°30′23″N 0°0′51″W  /  51.50639°N 0.01417°W  / 51.50639; -0.01417 Fish market Fish markets range in size from small fish stalls to large ones such as

2209-590: Was fought between modernisers and traditionalists. The modernisers won and the role of the porters ended. In early 2019, the City of London Corporation's main decision-making body, the Court of Common Council, proposed that Billingsgate, New Spitalfields Market and Smithfield Market should move to a new consolidated site in Dagenham Dock . A formal planning application was made in June 2020, and received outline permission in March 2021. The new consolidated market

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