Cheapside Market

The final weekend of the London Festival of Architecture will see the return of Britain’s oldest high street when, on Saturday 19 July, Cheapside in the City of London will become a contemporary version of the medieval market for which it became famous.

Cheapside Day will be one of the highlights of a series of vibrant events taking place in the LFA's Clerkenwell & City Hub between 15 and 20 July.

Geese and chickens will return to Poultry to launch the day, while carpenters, mercers, masons, farriers and their dray horses will be on hand to demonstrate their unique crafts. Rev George Bush of St Mary Le Bow church, and one of Cheapside’s few residents, will ring St Mary Le Bow’s 'Cockney Bow Bells’ during the day and there will be musical entertainment from the Worshipful Company of Musicians jazz quartet.

Other events include: historical walks and tours of nearby buildings that are usually closed to the public, provided by the Museum of London and City Livery Companies; family events, such as Grimshaw Architects' ‘Embodied Energy’ dance performance and Thomas Britten’s the coal seller stories; and the showcase of the Great Hoxton Bake Off - architects expressing their philosophy in cake form.

Cheapside Day returns the street to its roots as London’s first high street: the name derives from the Old English word ‘cheap’, meaning market, and the roads leading off it still bear names that relate to goods originally traded there - Honey Lane, Milk Street, Bread Street and Poultry. The day will also give the public and architecture professionals alike an insight into the City of London’s major regeneration plans for Cheapside.

(Nearest tube: St Paul’s or Bank)

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