minute read
On July 4th, 1996, Hurford Salvi Carr became the first estate agent to open in Clerkenwell.
Whilst we certainly don’t expect our humble beginnings to be chronicled in the history books of Clerkenwell, so much has changed in the past 30 years, we thought it may be an opportune time to revisit Clerkenwell’s rich and eclectic history in a series of posts over the coming weeks.
Exmouth Market: From Postman’s Pitstop to London’s Coolest Foodie Strip
If you walked down Exmouth Market in the 1980s, you’d have found a gritty, dwindling row of stalls with barely six vendors left. Today, it’s a pedestrianised pastel-coloured dream of sourdough, small plates, and boutique coffee.
The transformation of this Clerkenwell gem is one of London’s greatest glow-up stories. Here is how it went from a Victorian "street of the poor" to the ultimate dining destination.
The Gritty Origins: Cat’s Meat and Basilicas
Established in the 1890s, Exmouth Market was never "posh." Named after the Exmouth Arms pub (which still stands as the street’s anchor), it was a working-class hub where locals bought the basics: greens, cheap meat, and even "cat's meat."
Architecturally, the street has always been a bit of an outlier. Standing tall over the stalls is the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer, built in 1887. It’s London’s only Italian basilica-style church, giving the street a distinct European feel long before the first tapas bar arrived.
The Post Office Connection
For over a century, the market’s heartbeat was dictated by the Mount Pleasant Mail Centre. Opening nearby in 1889, it was one of the largest sorting offices in the world. Throughout the 20th century, Exmouth Market was effectively a "refuge" for thousands of postal workers. The local pubs and cafes weren't serving flat whites; they were serving pints and fry-ups to tired postmen coming off the night shift. By the late 80s, however, the area had fallen into disrepair, and the market was at risk of disappearing forever.
1997: The Moro Revolution
The turning point came in 1997 with a single opening: Moro. When Sam and Sam Clark brought their wood-fired Moorish cooking to this run-down street, they sparked a "halo effect." Suddenly, the trendy Clerkenwell design crowd had a reason to visit. Seeing the potential, Islington Council stepped in to pedestrianise the street and install the iconic overhead fairy lights. By 2006, the weekday lunch market was officially reinstated, trading "cat’s meat" for world-class street food like Ghanian stews, salt beef bagels, and spicy burritos.
Exmouth Market Today
Today, Exmouth Market is a masterclass in "pavement dining." On a sunny afternoon, the street feels more like Barcelona than Zone 1 London. It has managed the impossible: gentrifying into a high-end destination while keeping its soul, thanks to a fierce commitment to independent businesses like Brill (coffee and vinyl) and the legendary Exmouth Arms.
Whether you’re there for a quick lunch-break stall or a three-course sit-down dinner, you’re walking through a century of London history—one bite at a time.
