Markets and Merchandise

In 1600 approximately 800 markets in England gave rural and urban inhabitants access to a variety of foods. Country residents regularly purchased food at small markets and fairs. City residents, on the other hand, usually shopped for food at markets held once a week. Account books kept for a London household in 1612 record weekly purchases of meats, poultry, wines, cooking fats, and flour and spices. In London, as in other cities, each market sold particular goods such as herbs, cheese, or freshwater fish. Other items were bought from large regional fairs where vendors sold dry goods, livestock, and grains.

Provisioning London's residents required a network of sixteen markets. Billingsgate sold grain transported from Thames Valley river ports and from the Baltic, salt from France, onions and roots, imported oranges and fruit, and fresh- and saltwater fish and shellfish. By 1546, Leaden Hall vendors included crops from Essex, Middlesex (corn, cattle), and Kent (fruit, vegetables, hops) although most sellers also displayed boars' heads and other cuts of meat and live poultry.