This is one of those shortcuts you don’t mind taking even if it makes the journey twice as long. If you were walking round here 2,000 years ago then you’d be in the middle of Roman Londinium because this is where they built the basilica (court) and forum (market). Unfortunately the only trace of them now is an old pillar in the cellar of the hairdressers at 90 Gracechurch Street and they don’t let wanderers in off the street to see it (not even if you ask for a short back and sides first). I guess they must be fed up with people bothering them.
Photo: Craig CrossLord Mayor Dick Whittington
By the early 1400s the medieval market was doing so well that the former Lord Mayor of London Dick Whittington decided to buy the lease and gift it to the City. We just think of him as a panto character these days but in his retirement he was more like Bill Gates, ridiculously rich and doing lots of charity work.
Victorian market by Sir Horace Jones
Photo: Craig CrossRoll on another four hundred years and the Victorians decided that they didn’t like having all the sights and sounds and entrails of a messy meat market stinking up the city and hired Sir Horace Jones to build a replacement. So he packed all the butchers off to Smithfield, the fishmongers went to Billingsgate (he designed both of those as well) and turned Leadenhall into a picture-book palace of wrought iron and glass.
It still has a few food shops inside but it’s mostly boutiques, restaurants and a couple of pubs now, but it’s not the shops you’re here to see anyway – it’s the decorations. Because this is the London of glitter-covered Christmas cards. It’s all marzipan yellows, wrapping paper reds and stars stuck into the sky.
Photo: Craig CrossHarry Potter tours & The Leaky Cauldron Pub
If you hang around long enough then you’ll probably see a Harry Potter tour strolling past because this was the setting for Diagon Alley in Philosopher’s Stone.
Don’t tell anyone I told you this (because only wizards are supposed to know) but if you disappear behind that door at 42 Bull’s Head Passage then you’ll end up in The Leaky Cauldron pub… or more likely an empty shop, because it seems to be deserted today.
If you enjoy this then try Burlington Arcade (travel from Bank to Piccadilly Circus via tube) and Royal Exchange (you can walk it in 4 mins)
The author Craig Cross owns londondrum.com and has spent the last decade reviewing the capital’s landmarks, attractions and hotels. His guidebook London Squire is available from Amazon
Your comments and questions
Patrick Not really a market, more like a very posh shopping arcade, but it is an absolutely beautiful place to walk though.
Kelly It's beautiful. We walked through while following your Roman Walk... not disappointed that it was a Sunday and the shops were closed, as that likely saved us a lot of money.
Tom Greetings! Is there anywhere to buy Harry Potter souvenirs at Leadenhall Market?
Craig Hi Tom. You can pick up a few touristy things from the newsagents, like Harry Potter mugs and coasters, but you're better off going to the actual Harry Potter shop in King's Cross station - harrypottershop.co.uk/pages/platform934
Presco Does it open at the weekend?
Craig Hi Presco. The pub will be open but most of the shops will be shut. (The City is weirdly deserted at the weekend because all the workers have disappeared.) But you can still walk through the market even when it's shut. I think it's actually quite nice walking through when it's shut.
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