Stall holders and porters wait for early morning customers in Smithfield Market, Britain’s largest wholesale meat market, London, on Feb. 12, 1936. (AP Photo, File) An aerial view of Smithfield Market ...
Smithfield means ‘smooth field’ and, though the Romans called it by a different name, they recognised that this green expanse was too useful to be covered in houses.
Many fear Smithfield’s special sense of place will be lost once the meat market is gone. But could a new emerging cultural quarter bring social cohesion?