For 22 years, John Burt has cut and trimmed steaks, chops and roasts in a butcher shop across the street from Smithfield, the oldest meat market in London.
In that time, he said, he has watched the market’s slow decline, from a carnivore’s bustling bazaar to a hulking relic of an earlier London.
Still, the news this week that Smithfield will close — its owner, the City of London Corporation, killed a plan to move the market to a new site in East London — came as something of a jolt to him.
“I’m sad about it,” said Mr. Burt, 64, whose shop is separate from the market and will stay in business.
“You wouldn’t have thought that Smithfield Market would ever shut down because it’s been around since the time of Henry VIII.”
Persons:
John Burt, East London —, “, ”, Burt, it’s, Henry VIII
Organizations:
City of London Corporation
Locations:
Smithfield, London, City, East London