Property: Camden
Market
Board: London - Here and Now Limited
Edition (2005)
Colour:
Brown
Original 1935
Property: Baltic Avenue
Details of Property:
Wikipedia [visit link] tells
us:
"The Camden Markets are a number of
adjoining large retail markets in Camden Town near the Hampstead Road Lock of
the Regent's Canal (popularly referred to as Camden Lock), often collectively
named "Camden Market" or "Camden Lock". Among products sold on the stalls are
crafts, clothing, bric-a-brac, and fast food. It is the fourth-most popular
visitor attraction in London, attracting approximately 100,000 people each
weekend. A small local food market that has operated in Inverness Street since
the beginning of the 20th century has lost stalls since local supermarkets
opened, and as of 2010 this market retains only three fruit and vegetable stalls
(which are closed on Sundays), in addition to stalls for other products. Since
1974 a small weekly crafts market that has operated every Sunday near Camden
Lock has developed into a large complex of markets. The markets have a mixture
of temporary stalls and fixed premises.
The markets originally operated on
Sundays, which continue to be the main trading days, with much activity on
Saturdays, while a number of traders, mainly those in fixed premises, operate
throughout the week.
The complex of Camden Market is
composed of six general sections, each with its own particular focus on wares,
while the Stables Market, and the Camden markets generally have their roots in
alternative sub-cultures. Due to the popularity the markets, visitor numbers
have increased to the extent that Camden Town tube station has restricted Sunday
afternoon access to incoming passengers only in order to prevent dangerous
overcrowding of the narrow platforms, while Chalk Farm and Mornington Crescent
stations also provide easy access to the market.
Camden Lock
Market
Camden Lock Market is situated by
the Regent's Canal on a site formerly occupied by warehouses and other premises
associated with the canal. By the early 1970s the canal trade had ceased and a
northern urban motorway was planned that would cut through through the site,
making any major permanent redevelopment impossible, and in 1974 a temporary
market was established. By 1976, when plans for the motorway were abandoned, the
market had become a well known feature of Camden Town. Originally, the Lock was
a market for crafts, 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, when previous to the Sunday Trading Act 1994, shops were
not permitted to operate on Sundays. While the range of goods has since widened,
with stalls selling books, new and second-hand clothing, and jewellery, the Lock
retains its focus as the principle Camden market for crafts. There is a large
selection of fast food stalls. In 1991 a three-storey indoor market hall
designed by architect John Dickinson was opened on the site of the first outdoor
market. In the style of the traditional 19th century industrial architecture and
housing in the area, it is built of brick and cast iron.
From 2006 a large indoor market hall
was constructed in a yard between the Camden Lock Market and the Stables Market
that was 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 year-round permanent market area.
Historic Stables
Market
Owned by Bebo & O.D. Kobo,
Richard Caring and Elliot Bernerd of Chelsfield Partners, the Stables Market is
the largest section of the complex. The market is located in the former
Pickfords 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 in large arches in railway viaducts.
Chain stores are not permitted and
trade is provided by a mixture of small enclosed and outdoor shops and stalls,
of which some are permanent, while others are hired by the day. In common with
most of the other Camden markets the Stables Market has many clothes stalls. It
is also the main focus for furniture in the markets. Household goods,
decorative, ethnically influenced items, and secondhand or 20th-century
antiquesare, many of them hand-crafted are among the wares on sale, and also
includes clothing and art pieces for alternative sub-cultures, such as goths and
cybergoths. Two of the more well-known of these shops are Black Rose, which
caters for goths, with items such as coffin-shaped handbags, and Cyberdog, which
houses a huge range of cyber-style neon PVC and rubber clothing.
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.
Redevelopment will include 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 increase access for
visitors. A glass roof and cycle parking spaces will be added.
Numerous rumours about popular
chains such as Topshop, H&M and Starbucks moving in to replace existing
independent traders resulted in a petition being made to the UK government and
protest groups on social networking site Facebook. Public objections to the
application from local residents, as well as deputations (supporting and
opposing it) were presented to Camden Council. The protests caused a request for
more clarity to be made by market traders who feared the rumours were 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.
Councillor 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."
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.
Camden Lock
Village
The section along the canal to the
east of Chalk Farm Road is owned by cousins Bebo & O.D. Kobo, Richard Caring
and Elliot Bernerd of Chelsfield Partners was known as the Canal Market and had
a covered entrance tunnel leading into a general outdoor market. The market was
devastated by fire on 9 February 2008 and 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 was created.
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, while at the weekend these designs are more
likely to be found in the Electric Ballroom market.
Electric
Ballroom
The Electric Ballroom, close to
Camden Town tube station, has been a night club since the 1950s. It is open
during the day at 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 unusual items.
Inverness Street
Market
A small century-old street market
that 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."
Board link: Wikipedia.