Billingsgate
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Billingsgate. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the London wholesale fishmarket. Billingsgate is situated on the Thames, a little below London Bridge . In 1558 the wharf was declared a landing place for provisions. It was made a special fishmarket in 1699. All fish is free to land without duty if taken by British subjects and brought in British ships. Retail dealers and fish peddlers of every degree throng the stalls of the fishmarket to purchase a supply for their day's sales. Billingsgate wharf is the oldest wharf on the Thames. The fishmarket is one of the sights of London. The annual consumption of the city given in round numbers mounts up to 3,000,000 salmon; 1,200,000 lobsters; 500,000,000 oysters; and other fish to the weight of 400,000,000 pounds. The statement seems almost incredible, but sales of meat and poultry in the other markets of the city correspond. "Billingsgate" is a traditional name given to the language of the market. It has a reputation for raciness and force, rather than elegance. See London
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a word said to have been derived from Belinus Magnus, a somewhat mythic British prince, father of King Lud, about 400 b. c. It is applied to the celebrated London fish market existent at least as early as A. D. 979, made a free market in 1699, extended in 1849, rebuilt in 1852, and finally exposed to the rivalry of another market begun 1874, completed 1876. The word is also used to indicate foul, abusive language, such as is popularly supposed to be mutually employed by fish-wives.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 note that "Billingsgate wharf is the oldest wharf on the Thames" no longer describes a working fish market: the trade left the riverside in 1982 for a new hall on the Isle of Dogs, ending roughly seven centuries on the old site. Horace Jones's 1870s market building — the rebuilding Collier's mentions in 1921 — survives beside Lower Thames Street as a listed office and events venue. The City of London decided in 2024 to close the Billingsgate market altogether rather than move it again to Dagenham, with traders compensated and closure expected around the end of the decade. Of the old consumption figures, the half-billion oysters are the most dated: native oyster beds collapsed in the early 20th century, and oysters are now a luxury rather than a poor man's food.
Written for this edition, 2026.