PORTOBELLO MARKET

In 1739 Admiral Edward Vernon's defeated a Spanish force at Puerto Bello in the Caribbean.¹ To mark this, a farmstead, in what is now Notting Hill, was named after the battle. Portobello Road took its name from the farm.

In the late 1830s there was a local market that was dominated by Gypsy horse traders who were attracted by the nearby Notting Hill Hippodrome racecourse. In 1841 the track was abandoned.

In the 1880s an informal street market began to grow up. Following the First World War many of the stallholders were ex-servicemen; this factor prompted the authorities to hold back from suppressing it. During the 1920s it flourished. In 1927 the London County Council finally licensed the market. During the 1930s the mart began to develop its antiques-aspect. After the Second World War the old Caledonian Market in Islington was closed down and Portobello received many of the antique dealers who had traded there.

There is a daily street market. On Saturdays the northern section of the road becomes a market geared to the young and international visitors, while the southernmost section tends to be more weighted towards the antiques trade. During the first couple of hours of the market, the dealers sell items to one another. At around breakfast time antique collectors begin to appear and as the morning progresses so the ordinary public come to predominate.

In 1964 John Jesse (1936-2019) set up a stall in Portobello Road that sold art nouveau and art deco items. Other traders were upset because they regarded his stock as being too modern to be regarded as antique and thus likely to undermine the market's reputation. They launched a petition for him to be ejected.

Location: Portobello Road, W11 3DL (orange, road)

Website: www.portobelloroad.co.uk/the-market

¹. Old Grog's participation in the major British setback at Cartagena de las Indias, on the northern coast of South America, two years later is not commemorated. Indeed, to most Britons the event is completely unknown. The admiral's popularity survived the debacle untarnished. (There had been previous British naval successes at Portobello in 1707 and 1726. These are not commemorated either.)

David Backhouse 2024