The
Camden Markets are a number of adjoining large
marketsA marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
in
Camden Town-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
near the Hampstead Road
LockA lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
of the
Regent's CanalRegent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
(which is usually called
Camden LockCamden Lock, or Hampstead Road Locks is a twin manually-operated lock on the Regent's Canal in Camden Town, London Borough of Camden. The sign on each of the twin locks reads "Hampstead Road Lock 1"...
), often called collectively "Camden Market" or "Camden Lock". The stalls sell crafts, clothing,
bric-a-bracBric-à-brac , first used in the Victorian era, refers to collections of curios such as elaborately decorated teacups and small vases, feathers, wax flowers under glass domes, eggshells, statuettes, painted miniatures or photographs, and so on...
,
fast foodFast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
, and other things. It is the fourth-most popular visitor attraction in London, attracting approximately 100,000 people each weekend. A small local food market has operated in Inverness Street since the beginning of the 20th century (this market lost stalls as local
supermarketA supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s opened; this market retains only three fruit and vegetable stalls, which do not open on Sundays, in addition to stalls like those in the other markets). In 1974 a weekly crafts market held every Sunday near Camden Lock was started; a large complex of markets grew from this small beginning. The markets have a mixture of temporary
stallsA market stall is a typically immobile, temporary structure erected by merchants to display and shelter their merchandise in a street market or other setting. Stalls are easily erected, taken down or simply moved on wheels...
and fixed premises.
The markets originally operated on Sundays; this is still the main day, with much activity on Saturdays, but an increasing number of traders, mainly in fixed premises, operate throughout the week.
Camden Lock Market
Camden Lock Market is situated by the
Regent's CanalRegent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
on a site formerly occupied by warehouses and other premises connected with the canal. By the early 1970s the canal trade had ceased. At the time there was a
proposal to build an urban motorwayNorth Cross Route was a planned motorway-standard road which would have formed the northern section of Ringway 1 and would have formed the innermost circuit of the London Ringways network. The six-lane dual carriageway with grade separated junctions to an extended M1 Motorway was planned during...
through the site, which made any major redevelopment impossible, so in 1974 a temporary market was established instead. By the time the motorway proposal was abandoned in 1976, the market was flourishing and on its way to becoming the best-known feature of
Camden Town-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
. Camden Market as a whole is now so popular that congested
Camden Town tube stationCamden Town tube station is a major junction on the Northern Line and one of the busiest stations on the London Underground network...
operates special entrance and exit rules on Sundays for safety on the narrow platforms.
Camden Lock Market was originally a craft market, occupying some outdoor areas by the canal and various existing buildings. It attracted large numbers of visitors partly due to stalls being open on Sundays, while shops were not allowed to trade on Sundays until the
Sunday Trading Act 1994The Sunday Trading Act 1994 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom governing the right of shops in England and Wales to trade on a Sunday...
. Nowadays the range of goods has widened, with stalls selling books, new and second-hand clothing, and jewellery, but it is still the most craft-focused of the Camden Markets. There is a large selection of fast food stalls. A three-storey indoor market hall designed by architect John Dickinson opened in 1991 on the site of the first outdoor market. It is built of brick with a large amount of cast iron work in a traditional style, and is almost indistinguishable from the 19th century industrial architecture and housing in the area.
From 2006 a large indoor market hall was constructed in a yard between the Camden Lock Market and the Stables Market previously used for open air stalls.
In November 2007 a large part of the Stables Market was demolished as part of a long-term redevelopment plan for the area and rebuilt as a dedicated market area. The market is still a thriving shopping area year-round.
Historic Stables Market
The
Stables Market is the largest section of Camden Market, owned by cousins Bebo & O.D. Kobo,
Richard CaringRichard Caring, is an English billionaire businessman of American, Italian and Jewish descent, who made his fortune in fashion, and latterly property and restaurants....
and Elliot Bernerd of Chelsfield Partners. The market is built in the former
PickfordsPickfords is a moving company based in the United Kingdom, part of the Moving Services Group UK Ltd.The business is believed to have been founded in the 17th century, making it one of the UK's oldest functioning companies. The earliest record is of a William Pickford, a carrier who worked south of...
stables and horse hospital which served the horses pulling Pickford's distribution vans and barges along the canal. Many of the stalls and shops are set into huge arches in railway viaducts.
It is a mixture of indoor and outdoor shops and stalls, some of them permanent, others hired by the day. Chain stores are not permitted. In common with most of the other Camden markets the Stables Market has many clothes stalls. It is also the main home of furniture stores in the Markets. Household goods and decorative items are sold, many of them hand-made and often ethnically influenced. Some of the goods are secondhand or 20th-century antiques.
The Market is known for its clothing and art pieces for alternative sub-cultures, such as
gothsThe goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
and
cybergothCybergoth is a subculture that derives from elements of cyberpunk, goth, raver, and rivethead fashion. Unlike traditional goths, Cybergoths follow electronic dance music more often than rock.-History:...
s. Two of the more well-known of these shops are
Black Rose, which caters for goths, with items such as coffin-shaped handbags, and
CyberdogCyberdog is a trance music and cyber clothing/accessory retail chain, headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It specialises in bright fluorescent dance clothing, often featuring electronic components such as flashing lights...
, which houses a huge range of cyber-style neon
PVCPolyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...
and rubber clothing.
Whilst the Stables Market, and the Camden markets generally, have their roots in alternative sub-cultures, visitor numbers have become so high that
Camden Town tube stationCamden Town tube station is a major junction on the Northern Line and one of the busiest stations on the London Underground network...
is available only to incoming passengers on Sunday afternoons to prevent dangerous overcrowding of the platforms, although both Chalk Farm and Mornington Crescent stations also give easy access to the market.
During the weeks leading up to Christmas in 2004, the high-profile radio DJ and TV presenter Chris Evans made use of a stall in the Stables Market to sell many of his possessions, ranging from sofas to TVs and crockery.
In October 2006 a large indoor market hall was built in a yard between the Stables Market and Camden Lock Market that was previously used for temporary open-air stalls.
In the summer of 2007 redevelopedment of the back of the Stables Market began. This redevelopment consisted of two new four-storey buildings containing shops, food outlets, offices, workshops and storage facilities, as well as an exhibition space.
Through the redevelopment, there will be a new pedestrian route through the rear of the Stables Market exposing 25 of the existing railway arches. Pedestrian walkways—in the style of the existing historic ramp and bridge system—will open up the site and make it much more accessible to visitors. A glass roof and cycle parking spaces will be added.
Numerous rumours about popular chains such as
TopshopTopshop is a British clothes retailer with shops in over 20 countries and online operations in a number of its markets. Its sales come primarily from women's clothing and fashion accessories...
, H&M and Starbucks moving in to replace existing independent traders have sparked a petition to the UK government and protest groups on social networking site
FacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. Public objections to the application from local residents, as well as deputations (supporting and opposing it) were presented to Camden Council. The Facebook protest and petition has caused a number of market traders to request more clarity. Rumours that the market is being demolished to be replaced by a shopping centre are feared to be damaging trade.
Many of the objections have ignored agreed restrictions on the size and design of the shop units. These restrictions were intended to suit independent traders and discourage high street retailers. Also the design of the scheme and the materials aims to ensure that the redevelopment complements the industrial nature of the site's existing Victorian buildings.
Cllr Dawn Somper, Chair of the Development Control Committee, Camden Council said: "We absolutely support the desire to preserve the independent and alternative attraction and feel of Stables Market—rather than it looking like a typical high street—and also its economic importance to the Camden Town area. On balance the committee felt that the design, size and heritage considerations of this application were a significant improvement on the previous consented planning permission."
Camden Lock Village
The section along the canal to the east of Chalk Farm Road is owned by cousins Bebo & O.D. Kobo,
Richard CaringRichard Caring, is an English billionaire businessman of American, Italian and Jewish descent, who made his fortune in fashion, and latterly property and restaurants....
and Elliot Bernerd of Chelsfield Partners. Was known as the Canal Market with a covered entrance tunnel leading into a general outdoor market. The market was devastated by fire on 9 February 2008. The Market reopened in May 2009 as the Camden Lock Village. The cover over the original street entrance was removed and a new entrance near the railway bridge opened up.
Buck Street Market
The Buck Street Market is an outdoor market focusing on clothes. There is no formal or legal definition of Camden Market; the Buck Street Market's sign reads 'The Camden Market'.
A few stallholders design their own wares, though at the weekend these designs are more likely to be found in the Electric Ballroom market.
Electric Ballroom
The
Electric BallroomThe Electric Ballroom is a performance venue and indoor market located at 184 Camden High Street in Camden Town, London . The Electric Ballroom has been in operation for over seventy years, during which time it has been used in many different ways.The two storey building has two dance floors and...
, close to
Camden Town tube stationCamden Town tube station is a major junction on the Northern Line and one of the busiest stations on the London Underground network...
, has been a night club since the 1950s. It is open during the day on weekends as an indoor market. Whilst it has its share of imported goods, the market strives to attract independent designers and dealers specialising in unique and quirky stuff.
Inverness Street Market
A small century-old street market. It once had many stalls selling fresh produce and foodstuffs, but now retains only three vegetable and fruit stalls amongst stalls like the rest of the markets.
2008 Camden Market fire
On 9 February 2008, at around 7:20 p.m., a large fire broke out in the Camden Canal Market area on the north side of
Chalk Farm RoadChalk Farm Road is a street in the Camden Town area of London England. There is a widespread misapprehension that the road that runs through Camden Market is part of Camden High Street, but it is actually Chalk Farm Road...
. After crossing the railway line, the fire badly affected the rear of the Hawley Arms on Castlehaven Road. The fire was extinguished during the night by 100 firefighters There were no casualties, but railway services running above the market were disrupted. Camden Lock Market and the Stables Market were unaffected by the fire and remained open. The fire was caused by a banned liquid petroleum gas (LPG) heater left turned on on a clothes stall which ignited adjacent materials within one of the stalls.
The late singer
Amy WinehouseAmy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
had made her name at the Hawley Arms, and later mentioned the fire in her acceptance speech for
Record of the YearRecord of the Year may refer to:*Grammy Award for Record of the Year*The Record of the Year, a British award based on public polling...
at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
External links
{{Cleanup|date=September 2008}}
The
Camden Markets are a number of adjoining large
marketsA marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
in
Camden Town-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
near the Hampstead Road
LockA lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
of the
Regent's CanalRegent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
(which is usually called
Camden LockCamden Lock, or Hampstead Road Locks is a twin manually-operated lock on the Regent's Canal in Camden Town, London Borough of Camden. The sign on each of the twin locks reads "Hampstead Road Lock 1"...
), often called collectively "Camden Market" or "Camden Lock". The stalls sell crafts, clothing,
bric-a-bracBric-à-brac , first used in the Victorian era, refers to collections of curios such as elaborately decorated teacups and small vases, feathers, wax flowers under glass domes, eggshells, statuettes, painted miniatures or photographs, and so on...
,
fast foodFast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
, and other things. It is the fourth-most popular visitor attraction in London, attracting approximately 100,000 people each weekend. A small local food market has operated in Inverness Street since the beginning of the 20th century (this market lost stalls as local
supermarketA supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s opened; {{As of|2010|lc=on}} this market retains only three fruit and vegetable stalls, which do not open on Sundays, in addition to stalls like those in the other markets). In 1974 a weekly crafts market held every Sunday near Camden Lock was started; a large complex of markets grew from this small beginning. The markets have a mixture of temporary
stallsA market stall is a typically immobile, temporary structure erected by merchants to display and shelter their merchandise in a street market or other setting. Stalls are easily erected, taken down or simply moved on wheels...
and fixed premises.
The markets originally operated on Sundays; this is still the main day, with much activity on Saturdays, but an increasing number of traders, mainly in fixed premises, operate throughout the week.
Camden Lock Market
Camden Lock Market is situated by the
Regent's CanalRegent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
on a site formerly occupied by warehouses and other premises connected with the canal. By the early 1970s the canal trade had ceased. At the time there was a
proposal to build an urban motorwayNorth Cross Route was a planned motorway-standard road which would have formed the northern section of Ringway 1 and would have formed the innermost circuit of the London Ringways network. The six-lane dual carriageway with grade separated junctions to an extended M1 Motorway was planned during...
through the site, which made any major redevelopment impossible, so in 1974 a temporary market was established instead. By the time the motorway proposal was abandoned in 1976, the market was flourishing and on its way to becoming the best-known feature of
Camden Town-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
. Camden Market as a whole is now so popular that congested
Camden Town tube stationCamden Town tube station is a major junction on the Northern Line and one of the busiest stations on the London Underground network...
operates special entrance and exit rules on Sundays for safety on the narrow platforms.
Camden Lock Market was originally a craft market, occupying some outdoor areas by the canal and various existing buildings. It attracted large numbers of visitors partly due to stalls being open on Sundays, while shops were not allowed to trade on Sundays until the
Sunday Trading Act 1994The Sunday Trading Act 1994 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom governing the right of shops in England and Wales to trade on a Sunday...
. Nowadays the range of goods has widened, with stalls selling books, new and second-hand clothing, and jewellery, but it is still the most craft-focused of the Camden Markets. There is a large selection of fast food stalls. A three-storey indoor market hall designed by architect John Dickinson opened in 1991 on the site of the first outdoor market. It is built of brick with a large amount of cast iron work in a traditional style, and is almost indistinguishable from the 19th century industrial architecture and housing in the area.
From 2006 a large indoor market hall was constructed in a yard between the Camden Lock Market and the Stables Market previously used for open air stalls.
In November 2007 a large part of the Stables Market was demolished as part of a long-term redevelopment plan for the area and rebuilt as a dedicated market area. The market is still a thriving shopping area year-round.
Historic Stables Market
The
Stables Market is the largest section of Camden Market, owned by cousins Bebo & O.D. Kobo,
Richard CaringRichard Caring, is an English billionaire businessman of American, Italian and Jewish descent, who made his fortune in fashion, and latterly property and restaurants....
and Elliot Bernerd of Chelsfield Partners.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} The market is built in the former
PickfordsPickfords is a moving company based in the United Kingdom, part of the Moving Services Group UK Ltd.The business is believed to have been founded in the 17th century, making it one of the UK's oldest functioning companies. The earliest record is of a William Pickford, a carrier who worked south of...
stables and horse hospital which served the horses pulling Pickford's distribution vans and barges along the canal. Many of the stalls and shops are set into huge arches in railway viaducts.
It is a mixture of indoor and outdoor shops and stalls, some of them permanent, others hired by the day. Chain stores are not permitted. In common with most of the other Camden markets the Stables Market has many clothes stalls. It is also the main home of furniture stores in the Markets. Household goods and decorative items are sold, many of them hand-made and often ethnically influenced. Some of the goods are secondhand or 20th-century antiques.
The Market is known for its clothing and art pieces for alternative sub-cultures, such as
gothsThe goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
and
cybergothCybergoth is a subculture that derives from elements of cyberpunk, goth, raver, and rivethead fashion. Unlike traditional goths, Cybergoths follow electronic dance music more often than rock.-History:...
s. Two of the more well-known of these shops are
Black Rose, which caters for goths, with items such as coffin-shaped handbags, and
CyberdogCyberdog is a trance music and cyber clothing/accessory retail chain, headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It specialises in bright fluorescent dance clothing, often featuring electronic components such as flashing lights...
, which houses a huge range of cyber-style neon
PVCPolyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...
and rubber clothing.
Whilst the Stables Market, and the Camden markets generally, have their roots in alternative sub-cultures, visitor numbers have become so high that
Camden Town tube stationCamden Town tube station is a major junction on the Northern Line and one of the busiest stations on the London Underground network...
is available only to incoming passengers on Sunday afternoons to prevent dangerous overcrowding of the platforms, although both Chalk Farm and Mornington Crescent stations also give easy access to the market.
During the weeks leading up to Christmas in 2004, the high-profile radio DJ and TV presenter Chris Evans made use of a stall in the Stables Market to sell many of his possessions, ranging from sofas to TVs and crockery.
In October 2006 a large indoor market hall was built in a yard between the Stables Market and Camden Lock Market that was previously used for temporary open-air stalls.
In the summer of 2007 redevelopedment of the back of the Stables Market began. This redevelopment consisted of two new four-storey buildings containing shops, food outlets, offices, workshops and storage facilities, as well as an exhibition space.
Through the redevelopment, there will be a new pedestrian route through the rear of the Stables Market exposing 25 of the existing railway arches. Pedestrian walkways—in the style of the existing historic ramp and bridge system—will open up the site and make it much more accessible to visitors. A glass roof and cycle parking spaces will be added.
Numerous rumours about popular chains such as
TopshopTopshop is a British clothes retailer with shops in over 20 countries and online operations in a number of its markets. Its sales come primarily from women's clothing and fashion accessories...
, H&M and Starbucks moving in to replace existing independent traders have sparked a petition to the UK government and protest groups on social networking site
FacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. Public objections to the application from local residents, as well as deputations (supporting and opposing it) were presented to Camden Council. The Facebook protest and petition has caused a number of market traders to request more clarity. Rumours that the market is being demolished to be replaced by a shopping centre are feared to be damaging trade.
Many of the objections have ignored agreed restrictions on the size and design of the shop units. These restrictions were intended to suit independent traders and discourage high street retailers. Also the design of the scheme and the materials aims to ensure that the redevelopment complements the industrial nature of the site's existing Victorian buildings.
Cllr Dawn Somper, Chair of the Development Control Committee, Camden Council said: "We absolutely support the desire to preserve the independent and alternative attraction and feel of Stables Market—rather than it looking like a typical high street—and also its economic importance to the Camden Town area. On balance the committee felt that the design, size and heritage considerations of this application were a significant improvement on the previous consented planning permission."
Camden Lock Village
The section along the canal to the east of Chalk Farm Road is owned by cousins Bebo & O.D. Kobo,
Richard CaringRichard Caring, is an English billionaire businessman of American, Italian and Jewish descent, who made his fortune in fashion, and latterly property and restaurants....
and Elliot Bernerd of Chelsfield Partners.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} Was known as the Canal Market with a covered entrance tunnel leading into a general outdoor market. The market was devastated by fire on 9 February 2008. The Market reopened in May 2009 as the Camden Lock Village. The cover over the original street entrance was removed and a new entrance near the railway bridge opened up.
Buck Street Market
The Buck Street Market is an outdoor market focusing on clothes. There is no formal or legal definition of Camden Market; the Buck Street Market's sign reads 'The Camden Market'.
A few stallholders design their own wares, though at the weekend these designs are more likely to be found in the Electric Ballroom market.
Electric Ballroom
The
Electric BallroomThe Electric Ballroom is a performance venue and indoor market located at 184 Camden High Street in Camden Town, London . The Electric Ballroom has been in operation for over seventy years, during which time it has been used in many different ways.The two storey building has two dance floors and...
, close to
Camden Town tube stationCamden Town tube station is a major junction on the Northern Line and one of the busiest stations on the London Underground network...
, has been a night club since the 1950s. It is open during the day on weekends as an indoor market. Whilst it has its share of imported goods, the market strives to attract independent designers and dealers specialising in unique and quirky stuff.
Inverness Street Market
A small century-old street market. It once had many stalls selling fresh produce and foodstuffs, but now retains only three vegetable and fruit stalls amongst stalls like the rest of the markets.
2008 Camden Market fire
{{Wikinews|London's Camden Market in flames}}
On 9 February 2008, at around 7:20 p.m., a large fire broke out in the Camden Canal Market area on the north side of
Chalk Farm RoadChalk Farm Road is a street in the Camden Town area of London England. There is a widespread misapprehension that the road that runs through Camden Market is part of Camden High Street, but it is actually Chalk Farm Road...
. After crossing the railway line, the fire badly affected the rear of the Hawley Arms on Castlehaven Road. The fire was extinguished during the night by 100 firefighters There were no casualties, but railway services running above the market were disrupted. Camden Lock Market and the Stables Market were unaffected by the fire and remained open. The fire was caused by a banned liquid petroleum gas (LPG) heater left turned on on a clothes stall which ignited adjacent materials within one of the stalls.
The late singer
Amy WinehouseAmy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
had made her name at the Hawley Arms, and later mentioned the fire in her acceptance speech for
Record of the YearRecord of the Year may refer to:*Grammy Award for Record of the Year*The Record of the Year, a British award based on public polling...
at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}
External links
{{External links|date=March 2010}}
{{Cleanup|date=September 2008}}
The
Camden Markets are a number of adjoining large
marketsA marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
in
Camden Town-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
near the Hampstead Road
LockA lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
of the
Regent's CanalRegent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
(which is usually called
Camden LockCamden Lock, or Hampstead Road Locks is a twin manually-operated lock on the Regent's Canal in Camden Town, London Borough of Camden. The sign on each of the twin locks reads "Hampstead Road Lock 1"...
), often called collectively "Camden Market" or "Camden Lock". The stalls sell crafts, clothing,
bric-a-bracBric-à-brac , first used in the Victorian era, refers to collections of curios such as elaborately decorated teacups and small vases, feathers, wax flowers under glass domes, eggshells, statuettes, painted miniatures or photographs, and so on...
,
fast foodFast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
, and other things. It is the fourth-most popular visitor attraction in London, attracting approximately 100,000 people each weekend. A small local food market has operated in Inverness Street since the beginning of the 20th century (this market lost stalls as local
supermarketA supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s opened; {{As of|2010|lc=on}} this market retains only three fruit and vegetable stalls, which do not open on Sundays, in addition to stalls like those in the other markets). In 1974 a weekly crafts market held every Sunday near Camden Lock was started; a large complex of markets grew from this small beginning. The markets have a mixture of temporary
stallsA market stall is a typically immobile, temporary structure erected by merchants to display and shelter their merchandise in a street market or other setting. Stalls are easily erected, taken down or simply moved on wheels...
and fixed premises.
The markets originally operated on Sundays; this is still the main day, with much activity on Saturdays, but an increasing number of traders, mainly in fixed premises, operate throughout the week.
Camden Lock Market
Camden Lock Market is situated by the
Regent's CanalRegent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
on a site formerly occupied by warehouses and other premises connected with the canal. By the early 1970s the canal trade had ceased. At the time there was a
proposal to build an urban motorwayNorth Cross Route was a planned motorway-standard road which would have formed the northern section of Ringway 1 and would have formed the innermost circuit of the London Ringways network. The six-lane dual carriageway with grade separated junctions to an extended M1 Motorway was planned during...
through the site, which made any major redevelopment impossible, so in 1974 a temporary market was established instead. By the time the motorway proposal was abandoned in 1976, the market was flourishing and on its way to becoming the best-known feature of
Camden Town-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
. Camden Market as a whole is now so popular that congested
Camden Town tube stationCamden Town tube station is a major junction on the Northern Line and one of the busiest stations on the London Underground network...
operates special entrance and exit rules on Sundays for safety on the narrow platforms.
Camden Lock Market was originally a craft market, occupying some outdoor areas by the canal and various existing buildings. It attracted large numbers of visitors partly due to stalls being open on Sundays, while shops were not allowed to trade on Sundays until the
Sunday Trading Act 1994The Sunday Trading Act 1994 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom governing the right of shops in England and Wales to trade on a Sunday...
. Nowadays the range of goods has widened, with stalls selling books, new and second-hand clothing, and jewellery, but it is still the most craft-focused of the Camden Markets. There is a large selection of fast food stalls. A three-storey indoor market hall designed by architect John Dickinson opened in 1991 on the site of the first outdoor market. It is built of brick with a large amount of cast iron work in a traditional style, and is almost indistinguishable from the 19th century industrial architecture and housing in the area.
From 2006 a large indoor market hall was constructed in a yard between the Camden Lock Market and the Stables Market previously used for open air stalls.
In November 2007 a large part of the Stables Market was demolished as part of a long-term redevelopment plan for the area and rebuilt as a dedicated market area. The market is still a thriving shopping area year-round.
Historic Stables Market
The
Stables Market is the largest section of Camden Market, owned by cousins Bebo & O.D. Kobo,
Richard CaringRichard Caring, is an English billionaire businessman of American, Italian and Jewish descent, who made his fortune in fashion, and latterly property and restaurants....
and Elliot Bernerd of Chelsfield Partners.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} The market is built in the former
PickfordsPickfords is a moving company based in the United Kingdom, part of the Moving Services Group UK Ltd.The business is believed to have been founded in the 17th century, making it one of the UK's oldest functioning companies. The earliest record is of a William Pickford, a carrier who worked south of...
stables and horse hospital which served the horses pulling Pickford's distribution vans and barges along the canal. Many of the stalls and shops are set into huge arches in railway viaducts.
It is a mixture of indoor and outdoor shops and stalls, some of them permanent, others hired by the day. Chain stores are not permitted. In common with most of the other Camden markets the Stables Market has many clothes stalls. It is also the main home of furniture stores in the Markets. Household goods and decorative items are sold, many of them hand-made and often ethnically influenced. Some of the goods are secondhand or 20th-century antiques.
The Market is known for its clothing and art pieces for alternative sub-cultures, such as
gothsThe goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
and
cybergothCybergoth is a subculture that derives from elements of cyberpunk, goth, raver, and rivethead fashion. Unlike traditional goths, Cybergoths follow electronic dance music more often than rock.-History:...
s. Two of the more well-known of these shops are
Black Rose, which caters for goths, with items such as coffin-shaped handbags, and
CyberdogCyberdog is a trance music and cyber clothing/accessory retail chain, headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It specialises in bright fluorescent dance clothing, often featuring electronic components such as flashing lights...
, which houses a huge range of cyber-style neon
PVCPolyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...
and rubber clothing.
Whilst the Stables Market, and the Camden markets generally, have their roots in alternative sub-cultures, visitor numbers have become so high that
Camden Town tube stationCamden Town tube station is a major junction on the Northern Line and one of the busiest stations on the London Underground network...
is available only to incoming passengers on Sunday afternoons to prevent dangerous overcrowding of the platforms, although both Chalk Farm and Mornington Crescent stations also give easy access to the market.
During the weeks leading up to Christmas in 2004, the high-profile radio DJ and TV presenter Chris Evans made use of a stall in the Stables Market to sell many of his possessions, ranging from sofas to TVs and crockery.
In October 2006 a large indoor market hall was built in a yard between the Stables Market and Camden Lock Market that was previously used for temporary open-air stalls.
In the summer of 2007 redevelopedment of the back of the Stables Market began. This redevelopment consisted of two new four-storey buildings containing shops, food outlets, offices, workshops and storage facilities, as well as an exhibition space.
Through the redevelopment, there will be a new pedestrian route through the rear of the Stables Market exposing 25 of the existing railway arches. Pedestrian walkways—in the style of the existing historic ramp and bridge system—will open up the site and make it much more accessible to visitors. A glass roof and cycle parking spaces will be added.
Numerous rumours about popular chains such as
TopshopTopshop is a British clothes retailer with shops in over 20 countries and online operations in a number of its markets. Its sales come primarily from women's clothing and fashion accessories...
, H&M and Starbucks moving in to replace existing independent traders have sparked a petition to the UK government and protest groups on social networking site
FacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. Public objections to the application from local residents, as well as deputations (supporting and opposing it) were presented to Camden Council. The Facebook protest and petition has caused a number of market traders to request more clarity. Rumours that the market is being demolished to be replaced by a shopping centre are feared to be damaging trade.
Many of the objections have ignored agreed restrictions on the size and design of the shop units. These restrictions were intended to suit independent traders and discourage high street retailers. Also the design of the scheme and the materials aims to ensure that the redevelopment complements the industrial nature of the site's existing Victorian buildings.
Cllr Dawn Somper, Chair of the Development Control Committee, Camden Council said: "We absolutely support the desire to preserve the independent and alternative attraction and feel of Stables Market—rather than it looking like a typical high street—and also its economic importance to the Camden Town area. On balance the committee felt that the design, size and heritage considerations of this application were a significant improvement on the previous consented planning permission."
Camden Lock Village
The section along the canal to the east of Chalk Farm Road is owned by cousins Bebo & O.D. Kobo,
Richard CaringRichard Caring, is an English billionaire businessman of American, Italian and Jewish descent, who made his fortune in fashion, and latterly property and restaurants....
and Elliot Bernerd of Chelsfield Partners.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} Was known as the Canal Market with a covered entrance tunnel leading into a general outdoor market. The market was devastated by fire on 9 February 2008. The Market reopened in May 2009 as the Camden Lock Village. The cover over the original street entrance was removed and a new entrance near the railway bridge opened up.
Buck Street Market
The Buck Street Market is an outdoor market focusing on clothes. There is no formal or legal definition of Camden Market; the Buck Street Market's sign reads 'The Camden Market'.
A few stallholders design their own wares, though at the weekend these designs are more likely to be found in the Electric Ballroom market.
Electric Ballroom
The
Electric BallroomThe Electric Ballroom is a performance venue and indoor market located at 184 Camden High Street in Camden Town, London . The Electric Ballroom has been in operation for over seventy years, during which time it has been used in many different ways.The two storey building has two dance floors and...
, close to
Camden Town tube stationCamden Town tube station is a major junction on the Northern Line and one of the busiest stations on the London Underground network...
, has been a night club since the 1950s. It is open during the day on weekends as an indoor market. Whilst it has its share of imported goods, the market strives to attract independent designers and dealers specialising in unique and quirky stuff.
Inverness Street Market
A small century-old street market. It once had many stalls selling fresh produce and foodstuffs, but now retains only three vegetable and fruit stalls amongst stalls like the rest of the markets.
2008 Camden Market fire
{{Wikinews|London's Camden Market in flames}}
On 9 February 2008, at around 7:20 p.m., a large fire broke out in the Camden Canal Market area on the north side of
Chalk Farm RoadChalk Farm Road is a street in the Camden Town area of London England. There is a widespread misapprehension that the road that runs through Camden Market is part of Camden High Street, but it is actually Chalk Farm Road...
. After crossing the railway line, the fire badly affected the rear of the Hawley Arms on Castlehaven Road. The fire was extinguished during the night by 100 firefighters There were no casualties, but railway services running above the market were disrupted. Camden Lock Market and the Stables Market were unaffected by the fire and remained open. The fire was caused by a banned liquid petroleum gas (LPG) heater left turned on on a clothes stall which ignited adjacent materials within one of the stalls.
The late singer
Amy WinehouseAmy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
had made her name at the Hawley Arms, and later mentioned the fire in her acceptance speech for
Record of the YearRecord of the Year may refer to:*Grammy Award for Record of the Year*The Record of the Year, a British award based on public polling...
at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}
External links
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