Grainger Market is a covered market in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. It opened in 1835 as part of the 19th-century Neoclassical redevelopment of the city,

Grainger Town Grainger Town is the historic commercial centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It covers approximately . Almost all of Grainger Town is in Newcastle's Central Conservation Area, one of the first designated in England. The area includes a medi ...

. Designed by architect John Dobson, the market replaced older markets that were demolished during the construction of Grey Street. The market is home to over 100 businesses. The

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

market is situated in the heart of the Newcastle city centre, adjacent to Grainger street. The market originally consisted of two main sections: the Eastern section, which functioned as a meat market laid out in a series of aisles, and the Western section, a large open hall that served as the vegetable market. The market is home to a small branch of

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

, a market stall known as Marks and Spencer's Original Penny Bazaar, which opened in 1895.

History

Grainger's plans for the redevelopment of Newcastle's centre involved the demolition of the existing Flesh Market. Grainger, therefore, offered to build a new meat market and vegetable market. In his contract with the Development Corporation, Grainger would pay £15,000 in compensation for the vegetable market, and the Corporation would pay £36,290 toward constructing a new one. The meat market was placed between two of the new streets, Grainger Street and Clayton Street, and the vegetable market was placed on the west side of Clayton Street. Both were designed by Dobson. The meat market four avenues each long had pilastered

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

s, 360 windows,

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

s and wooden

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

s, and . It contained 180

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale ...

s' shops when it opened. On 24 October 1835, to celebrate the opening of the markets, a grand

dinner Dinner usually refers to what is in many Western cultures the biggest and most formal meal of the day. Historically, the largest meal used to be eaten around noon, midday, and called dinner. Especially among the elite, it gradually migrated to ...

was held in the vegetable market, with 2,000 guests, and presided over by the mayor. The vegetable market's foundations were made of local Kenton stone, and were designed to resemble those of the Borghese Palace in Rome. The market was given an open-plan layout, long, wide and high, with a

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

roof supported by iron pillars. Both markets, in total, formed a footprint of over two acres with of retail space. When opened the Newcastle Journal said, "The New Markets, which are now finished, form at present the most attractive feature of Mr. Grainger's splendid improvements. They exceed two acres in area, ..designed with a chaste and classic elegance, surpassing anything in street architecture hitherto witnessed in this neighbourhood." The Grainger Arcade wooden beamed roof burned down at the turn of the 20th century in 1901. In 1904, a new steel and glass roof was installed. During World War II, air raid shelters were built under the market. In 2024, the poor condition of the shelters led to the council proposing to fill them with concrete, as part of a £9 million refurbishment of the market.

References

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External links

Grainger Market - co-curateNewcastle's Grainger Town
Buildings and structures in Newcastle upon Tyne Market halls

History

References

See also

External links