CHOPPING BLOCK
World’s oldest surviving market running for 1,000 YEARS holds its final Christmas meat auction before it CLOSES
Former customers at the historical market include novelist Charles Dickens
THE world's oldest meat market held its final Christmas meat auction before its closure.
People gathered at Smithfield meat market near Farringdon on Christmas Eve to get a last chance to stock-up on food for the big day.
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At the event this year, people were seen wearing Santa hats and Christmas jumpers as they crammed into the venue for the auction, run by G Lawrence butchers.
Butchers and their apprentices were captures in their classic white overalls with black aprons as they began handing out the goods to festive customers.
Customers were fighting to get the best meat, whether it be turkey, geese, beef or lamb.
All of it went under the hammer.
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Traders have sold meat in and around modern-day Smithfield since before 1000AD.
A medieval clerk described it as "a smooth field where every Friday there is a celebrated rendezvous of fine horses to be sold".
The clerk added: "In another quarter are placed swine with their deep flanks, and cows and oxen of immense bulk."
Former customers include novelist Charles Dickens, who described its "filth and fat and blood and foam" in Great Expectations.
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There were initial concerns that the market would close for good in 2028, but The City of London and Smithfield traders said on Monday that they planned to move it to a new location.
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Bosses had planned to move Smithfield meat market to Dagenham on the Essex border.
But they have scrapped the £1billion move amid spiralling costs.
Smithfield will not be moved to the new location following the U-turn - but it will still close down.
An insider told : "The whole market move has been catastrophically mismanaged."
But one trader said: "I’ve been working here for 30 years, and it's been about to close for 30 years - so I’m taking it all with a pinch of salt."
Now officials want to turn Smithfield into a "mixed-use cultural development" housing the Museum of London.
But three top lawyers have warned the Corporation's decision could be "unlawful".
In a letter, they said: "Understanding the social and economic importance of the existing markets is vital to any decision by the court to abolish them.
"As is the social and economic implications of doing so.
"The failure to have this information available would, we are concerned, be unlawful."
MEAT YOUR MAKER
But the Corporation said its own lawyers are "satisfied" the decision is legal.
City of London chair Chris Hayward said: "People are eating less meat and fish.
"An increasing amount of trade is handled directly online and we understand that a majority of traders will continue with their businesses.
"The strength of the markets has always been in the traders, not the buildings."
The Corporation has already splashed out £308million moving the market.
Last year traders were given £115million in compensation after Smithfield's poultry market shut.
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Dominic Twomey, leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, said: “While this is disappointing news, we understand the financial pressures that key investment projects are facing with soaring inflation in recent years.
“We are committed to continue working with the City of London Corporation to unlock the huge potential of the Dagenham Dock site to bring new employment uses and high quality jobs for local people.”
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