Quality of life:

Smithfield is one of the few great London markets not to have moved from its central site, but the area around it has seen a huge number of bars, pubs and clubs springing up. Nightclubs such as Fabric and Turnmills attract famous international DJs, and the many bars and clubs draw in the workers based in nearby Holborn, Clerkenwell and the City. It’s an area rich in history as well: two monasteries on the site survive in part, and both William Wallace and Wat Tyler met their ends here.

Architecture/places of interest:

Smithfield has architecture, and architects, by the bucketload. It even has its own architecture biennale, based around St. John’s Street.

Smithfield Market is a good place to start. Designed by Sir Horace Jones, the buildings were completed in November 1868. It’s recently come under threat from developers, and residents, architects, commentators and tourists have all joined in the clamour to save one of central London’s most distinctive (and still functional) Victorian structures. The architectural style of Smithfield Market has given the area a distinctive feel, with the ornate facade of the Red House cold store on West Poultry Avenue, for example, echoing the original design.

St Bartholomew-the-Great in Smithfield is one of London's oldest churches. Dating from the twelfth century, it was used more recently to film scenes in Shakespeare in Love. Smithfield was the site of two monasteries - St Bartholomew the Great and Charterhouse both of which were dissolved in the reformation but both of which have survived in part into the 21st century. St Bartholomew's Hospital was established by the monastery in 1123.

Travel Links:

Smithfield is close to Faringdon Tube (on the Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith and City lines) and served by the City Thameslink train service from the same station. Barbican tube station is also nearby. Smithfield is within an easy cab ride of most major London Stations, particularly King’s Cross and St. Pancras. It’s also served by numerous buses.

There’s an NCP car park in West Smithfield, but the area is within the congestion charging zone.

Restaurants:

Smiths of Smithfield, Saki, St. John Restaurant, La Cucina.

Bars and pubs:

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