![]() ![]() Pevsner, in his ‘Buildings of England’ comments on the lettering at the entrances “as gloriously commercial as a circus poster” and of the City’s “dragons cheekily squeezed in”. At the centre of the market is an octagonal crossing rising to an impressive dome and lantern supported by giant Ionic cast-iron columns with dragons. The wide entrance was built in a Queen Anne Revival style, supported to each side by Dutch-style houses. This resulted in a necessity for additional space, with simpler brick extensions made to both side of Lime Street Passage, and new glazed passages in the south-west quadrant, both in 1885. Though the character and atmosphere of the new market diverged from its previous incarnations, it enjoyed a similar level of success. The new designs removed the itinerant salesmen who were now unable to rent the new, permanent stands. Its crooked ground plan reflects the constraint of the medieval rights of way within which Jones had to work. ![]() Jones was influenced by Mengoni’s Victor Emmanuel Galleria in Milan for the design of the new Leadenhall arcade. The current ornate glass roofed building was constructed in 1881 at a cost of £99,000, though infrastructure works to the surrounding approaches cost a further £148,000. The Forum-Basilica’s function was for civic administration and as a market place, originating the mercantile use that continues today. Sadly, some of it had already been destroyed to build a sewer, but what remains now resides in the British Museum. The subject of the mosaic was Bacchus, god of wine, agriculture and fertility, riding on a tiger and surrounded by drinking cups, cornucopia, serpents and other symbolic objects. In 1803, excavations in the Leadenhall Street area found a stunning example of Roman mosaic artwork, 9 feet 6 inches below street level. These were uncovered when the new market was built during 1880-82. The east-west axis of the Basilica cuts across the north side of the current Leadenhall Market building and the remains of a pier (pillar support) from the south arcade of the Basilica survive as preserved ancient monument in the basement of No.90 Gracechurch Street. Its Basilica, which was the most important civic building in a Roman town, was the largest outside Italy. The first Forum at Leadenhall dates from about 70AD, but was rebuilt in around 100 AD to be the largest Basilica Forum north of the Alps – occupying an area bigger than that of Trafalgar Square. For many Romans, Britannia was seen as remote and its people unsophisticated ‘They dwell in tents, naked and without shoes’ according to historian Cassius Dio. ![]() The Romans began their conquest of Britannia in 43 AD, settling in London sometime after. ![]()
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