Bermondsey Market

Bermondsey Market (also known as New Caledonian Market and Bermondsey Square Antiques Market) is an antiques market located at Bermondsey Square on Tower Bridge Road in Bermondsey, part of the London Borough of Southwark, in South London, England. The location was formerly the site of Bermondsey Abbey. The site underwent redevelopment in 2006 and the market remained open during this period.

Bermondsey Market
The market in 2014
LocationBermondsey, Southwark, Greater London
Coordinates51.4974°N 0.0811°W / 51.4974; -0.0811
AddressBermondsey Square
Opening date1950
ManagementSherman & Waterman
OwnerSouthwark London Borough Council
EnvironmentOutdoor
Goods soldAntiques
Days normally openFriday
Number of tenants120+

History

The Caledonian Market moved to its current location in 1950 after the old Caledonian Market site in Islington was designated for redevelopment in the late 1940s.[1]

Marché ouvert

The opening hours of the Bermondsey Market from 6am until noon (some sources say 4am until 2pm) reflect the ancient law of market ouvert, which was abolished in 1995.[2] Under this law, in number of designated markets, including Bermondsey Market, if an item was sold between sunset and sunrise then its provenance could not be questioned, so stolen goods could be traded and good title would pass to the purchaser.[3] To quote Minister for the Arts Estelle Morris in July 2003 during the Second Reading of the Dealing In Cultural Objects (Offences) Bill:

I did not have information about marché ouvert in the deep recesses of my mind, but experts reliably inform me that it no longer exists. The hon. Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Randall) will be surprised to learn that it has been abolished only recently. It used to exist in designated markets, including Bermondsey. I am sure that the promoter will be interested in telling the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) about that. In it, items could be sold before sunrise. Believe it or not, in this land of ours, people could sell stolen—my officials put "dodgy" in brackets, but we do not use that term—objects. I assure hon. Members that it has been abolished. I hope that that deals with the fears of the hon. Member for Uxbridge.[4]

References
  1. Bermondsey Guide, Southlondonguide . Accessed 28 April 2008
  2. Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1994 (PDF), London: HMSO, 1994, ISBN 0-10-543294-6
  3. https://www.independent.co.uk/money/thieves-charter-nears-end-of-its-reign-the-law-of-market-overt-may-be-on-its-way-out-as-david-berry-1421817.html
  4. Columns 663,664 Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine, Hansard, 4 July 2003


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