Farringdon Without

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Contact Details

Tel 020 7601 2452
Email: community@cityoflondon.police.uk

Ward constable PC Bob Blackmore
Ward constable PC Trevor Machin
PCSO Teresa Park

Snow Hill Police Station
5 Snow Hill
London
EC1A 2DP

Police Community Support Officers (PCSO)

PCSO Salma Begum	PCSO Jacek Zych	PCSO Eran Safer

Overview & brief history

The area north of this ward runs from Charterhouse Street in the north to Long Lane and Giltspur Street in the south, with Holborn Viaduct on the east and Aldersgate Street on the west, and is largely dominated by Smithfield Meat Market.

Smithfield Meat Market is the largest wholesale meat market in the UK, handling in the region of 108,000 tonnes of meat of all kinds annually; the site dominates the eastern end of Farringdon Ward. The market, as it now appears, was built and opened in 1867, designed ingeniously to handle thousands of horse and carts per day. Recently the market has undergone a £70 million refurbishment to equip it for modern hygiene standards and traffic regulations.

The history of the market is long, colourful and varied. The first record of its existence appears in 1187 when William Fiztstephen, clerk to Thomas a Becket described the area as ‘a smooth field where every Friday there is a celebrated rendezvous of fine horse to be sold and in another quarter are placed vendibles of the peasant, swine with their deep flanks and cows and oxen of immense bulk’. Indeed, the name Smithfield came from a corruption of ‘Smeth field’ Saxon for smooth field.

Although there is no longer a livestock market on the site, fresh meat has been sold here continuously since 1327, when Edward III granted a royal warrant for the sale of meat.

The market is still a thriving commercial enterprise handling thousands of tons of meat per week with thousands of buyers, restaurateurs and caterers visiting on a daily basis. Opening hours of the market are 0200hrs till approx 0900hrs Mon to Fri. Visitors are advised to allow traffic congestion if travelling through the area during this time, as now it is no longer horses and carts that the market caters for but 40ft articulated lorries from all over Europe.

The City of London Police is responsible for the policing of the market, with the assistance of the Market Constabulary.

The Temple area of Farringdon Without ward covers the area west of Temple Avenue to the edge of the City boundary, and South of Fleet Street to the river Thames, including Victoria Embankment. It encompasses the Temple area, both Inner and Middle Inns, with its high profile buildings, employees and small resident population. There are many multinational companies based in the area, various retail outlets and an ever increasing selection of cafes, bars, coffee shops and public houses around Fleet Street.Annual events on the ward are the London Marathon, Temple garden parties, Lord Mayor’s Show, firework display, Thames Day festival and New Year's Eve celebrations.

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