Meat, commerce and the city: the London food market, 1800-1855 - no. 18

In 1800 Smithfield Market was the largest cattle market in the world.

But new concerns over sanitation, as well as changing views about the purpose of public space, meant that the market became an issue of contention, culminating in the Smithfield Removal Act of 1851.

Metcalfe examines the struggle between the market's supporters and detractors and argues that this demonstrates a major shift in the way the urban landscape came to be used.