The Arts in London: Market Project: Borough Market

Borough Market

Note: Bailey and I conducted interview together and gathered audio, video, and image data on a Friday morning. Data will be marked if it is not mine.


Borough Market is a food market dating back to at least the 12th century but the current buildings are only from the 1850s. It has been a food market for many years, but has shifted from a wholesale market to more of a produce market. This market is open Monday - Saturday, with full stall access on Friday and Saturday. Every other day of the week is considered "limited," meaning that only some stalls are open.

Photo taken by Bailey. NOT MINE

Now imagine: walking through the market held different scents: seafood to raw meat to fresh fruits/veggies to the sweet smells of confections to the savory scents of meal stalls. You might also catch a whiff of coffee beans or tea leaves if you walk close enough. A constant low murmur echoes in your ears and you catch British accents everywhere. A breeze blows by, easing the stuffiness and you can hear traffic from the street and trains moving periodically overhead. This has been a small sample of Borough Market.

For a Friday morning, the market was fairly busy. Busy enough that you definitely had to watch where you were going, but not busy enough that you were fighting your way through a horde of people. Here is a time-lapse from near the food stalls. This was about one minute, thirty seconds of time.

The audio clip is absolutely terrible and seems like everyone noticed we were filming and stopped talking at once; so I shall not subject you to the that.

Once faced with confections and handmade cake, I fell into temptation and purchased more sweets that I should have. So Chocolicious was where I bought some delicious truffles. The photo to the left shows the back of the stall. This man had once worked here with his father when he was young and now he works for his daughter's stall. They've been here at least 6-7 years and he really enjoys working here as he gets to meet lots of people. He mentioned that the original reason that So Chocolicous moved in was simply that there was an opening. He was extremely nice but sadly, I did not get his name.

Taken by Bailey. NOT MINE

Bailey and I both fell into the temptation of handmake cakes at Karaway Traditional Baltic Treats stall. Bailey had the chocolate honey cake, which was amazingly fluffy and sweet (she's a dear who let me steal a bite). I had a dark chocolate cheesecake, which was a little more bitter but also delicious. It was a bit drier, so I would recommend the honey cake more. The worker, again I forgot to ask her name, knows that the stall has been open for approximately five years and thoroughly enjoys working there.




Overall, Borough Market was an interesting find with great food and crispy produce (Side Note: Pink Lady apples were amazing), but I probably would not visit on Saturday. Friday was crowded enough for me. I would recommend you visit on Friday morning for the full experience, but without having to fight your way through a horde of people.