Nottingham wholesale market

Nottingham wholesale market 1949

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For hundreds of years, the Market Square and its environs, was the home of Nottingham ’s main markets.

In the late 19th Century they started to be moved out to purpose built sites – the first was the cattle market which was transferred to a new site on Burton Street (now the site of the Guildhall) in 1870 (it moved again in 1884 to London Road).

In 1900, the wholesale market was moved to Sneinton amid strong opposition from the wholesalers. with the coming of the electric tram system, Later on, the retail market was forced to follow suit.

Originally, those dealing in the wholesale trade had been scattered about the town, but as the population increased it was thought that a single venue where retailers could meet and buy their produce was needed.

Various sites were discussed but the only viable option was considered to be Sneinton Market. Many people were against the site as it was considered too far from the town centre. 

Once the market was established, it rapidly increased in size and soon there were demands for fresh accommodation on the site.

The area was surrounded by streets of poor housing, known as ‘The Bottoms’

and, in order to improve the wholesale markets accommodation, it was necessary for this area to be cleared and for the roads around to be widened.

This was agreed in principle by the Council, but with the First World War and the post-War housing shortage things nothing changed until the 1930s.

In 1934, Nottingham launched its slum clearance scheme and, as part of that, five streets in the market area: Finch Street , Sheridan Street, Brougham Street , Lucknow Street and Pipe Street were demolished. This gave the market an additional 2¾ acres – more than twice the previous area.

Plans for the new market were drawn up – a proposal for a completely covered market was rejected as being too expensive and the final layout of double rows of covered stalls with open avenues was chosen. The first phase of the new wholesale market was opened on the 16th June 1938 by the Chairman of the Markets and Fairs Committee, Alderman J.H. Freckingham.