Chrisp Street Market
Chrisp Street Market is the central marketplace and town centre of Poplar and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was the first purpose-built pedestrian shopping area in the United Kingdom, rebuilt as part of the 1951 Festival of Britain and is directly connected onto the high street, East India Dock Road.
It features a prominent clock tower, shops, small retail outlets, pubs, cafes, flats, and 80 market stalls.
History
Chrisp Street Market was designed by Frederick Gibberd, and built as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951. Since 1997 it has been in a conservation area.In the 1990s, the London Docklands Development Corporation contributed £1.3 million to refurbishment of the market area.
In the early 2000s, Chrisp St Library was closed and replaced with a larger 'Idea Store' designed by David Adjaye, a place for lifelong learning with computers and rooms for community use.
The Tower Hamlets London Borough Council transferred ownership of the shopping arcades along with the rest of the Lansbury Estate to Poplar HARCA, a locally based housing association, in 2006. This association commissioned architects to draw up a master plan for the market.
, the commercial properties are managed by Capital Properties Ltd, while the market stalls remain under the management of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
The market was the main focus point and filming location of E14: A Dying Trade, a short documentary filmed in 2011.