page_title: Borough Market, Halifax
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Borough Market, Halifax / History
caption_attribution_description: English: An original drawing of the floor plan of Borough Market, Halifax from circa 1895. Author unknown.
context_page_description: Borough Market is a Victorian covered market in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. The market occupies a town centre site between Southgate, Albion Street and Market Street. The glass and wrought iron covered marketplace, surrounded by stone built shops and accommodation, was built between 1891 and 1896 and opened by the future King George V and Queen Mary. The design included three public houses on the Market Street side and fishmongers' shops on Albion Street with the remaining exterior shops all being butchers' shops. The award-winning market is open six days a week with some 125 market stalls.
context_section_description: The site had previously been occupied by a red brick Georgian market place built in 1790. A nearby slaughterhouse had ended the practice of slaughtering animals in the street. Trade had been concentrated here since 1810 when an Act of Parliament had been obtained which forbade street trading in other parts of the town. Another Act of Parliament in 1853 allowed Halifax council to buy New Market, as it was known, from its private owners for a price of £7,700.
  The Markets and Fairs Committee decided in 1890 to replace the overflowing market place with a new structure. Local architects Joseph and John Leeming were engaged to draw up plans. A £50,000 loan was obtained by the Corporation the following year, with the final cost rising to £130,000, which was £20,000 over budget.  Work began in October 1892 and progressed slowly, until the market was officially opened on 25 July 1896 by the Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George V and Queen Mary. They also opened the Royal Halifax Infirmary on the same day. Opening hours at the outset were 8 am to 8 pm on Mondays to Wednesdays, with half day closing on Thursdays, 8 am to 4 pm. Fridays were 8 am to 9 pm and Saturdays 6 am to 10.30 pm.
  The building's stonework was cleaned in 1973, the same year that Southgate was made into a pedestrian area, with the road raised to pavement level.
  In 1987 the Civic Trust gave the market an award for its renovated Victorian shop fronts, commenting that the market has "an elegance seldom seen on such a grand scale".
  In 1993 the central clock, often used as a rendezvous point, was refurbished using more than fifty square feet of gold leaf.
  In 1995 the Halifax Centre Strategy Report recommended moving the fishmongers on Albion Street inside the market and replacing them with shop units to improve attractiveness and rental income.
caption: An original floor plan of the market
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Microsoft Windows Live Photo Gallery14.0.8081.709", "Image DateTime": "2010:01:13 11:49:10", "Image ExifOffset": "2204", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "C0BE539D30AA4243AADCE22A7EC71A1B", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}