End of an era as London's meat market set to close

Traders stunned at plan to close the historic Smithfield market, which was established in 1133 and survived Great Fire of 1666

- Caroline Davies

The junction at Cowcross Street marks the place where for centuries cattle were driven daily to London's Smithfield Market. Nearby Cock Lane is another street name possibly linked to the meat and poultry trade centred here since the 12th century.

Soon these will be among the last vestiges of a historic site that was central to London life, feeding the city's people, dispensing justice as a place of public execution and even providing a place where a man wishing to avoid a costly divorce could sell his wife.

News that the City of London Corporation is to close Smithfield meat market and Billingsgate fish market by 2028, abandoning plans to relocate them to a new £1bn ($1.25bn) Dagenham Docks development, is slowly being absorbed by Smithfield traders.