Old Billingsgate Market

Billingsgate likely began as a Roman watergate on the Thames, later serving the Saxons as a small port for general cargo. Its name, “gate of a man called Billing,” is steeped in legend, purportedly named after Belin or Belinus, a mythical British king from the early 4th century BC. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth’s *Historia Regum Britanniae* (History of the Kings of Britain, c.1136), Belin is credited with rebuilding the City of London, founding the Tower of London, and constructing Ermine Street and Watling Street.

Until the late 15th century, most of London’s fish landed upstream at Queenhithe. However, as Queenhithe became less accessible to larger vessels, Billingsgate became the city’s primary fish market.

The “Boss of Billingsgate”, possibly a drinking fountain, was a notable feature outside the fish market. Some sources suggest it bore an image of Belin, while others describe it as a pot-bellied man. Fish porters had a tradition of asking passers-by to kiss the boss, and those who refused were bumped against it. This peculiar tradition inspired a comic ballad titled “The Marriage of London Stone and the Boss of Billingsgate” (1521) and a play by John Day and others (1603), though the latter play has not survived.

Billingsgate’s status was formally recognized by an Act of Parliament in 1699, establishing it as “a free and open market for all sorts of fish whatsoever.” Initially, sales were conducted in wooden sheds until the first trading hall was built in 1850. This structure was replaced by a larger one in 1877, which still stands today.

However, the market’s operations became increasingly impractical with the widening of Lower Thames Street in the late 1960s. Consequently, Billingsgate Market relocated to a renovated warehouse at the West India Docks in 1982. Since the move, the Lord Mayor of London has annually presented the nominal rent to the Mayor of Tower Hamlets as a gift of fish, which is then distributed to the borough’s old people’s homes.

In December 2018, the City of London Corporation announced the acquisition of the 42-acre Barking Reach power station site as a potential new home for its three wholesale food markets: Billingsgate, Smithfield, and New Spitalfields.

The old Billingsgate Market captured the imagination of many artists, drawn to its raw, vibrant life. William Hogarth’s exuberant *Shrimp Girl* (c.1750), which hangs in the National Gallery, is a notable example. The market’s workers, known for their coarse language, made “Billingsgate” synonymous with swearing. A “Billingsgate pheasant” was a colloquial term for a red herring or a bloater.