As one of the most elegant and useful buildings of the important town of
Leeds, and as characteristic of the public spirit of its inhabitants,[2]
the above engraving cannot fail to prove acceptable to our readers;
while it may serve as an excitement to similar exertions in other
districts.
The Central Market, is erected on the site of the old post-office, at
the north-east corner of Duncan-street, the foundation stone of which
was laid in 1824. The whole site was excavated, and is divided into
cellars, arched and groined, with a spacious area round the whole, for
the convenience of access to each, and lighted by powerful convex lenses
from the interior of the building. Over these is the principal
building--an enclosed market-house, with twenty shops round the exterior
for butchers and others, and twenty others corresponding in size with
them, fronting the interior. The space within these, on the ground
floor, is fitted up with twenty single stands for fruit and vegetables.
Three sides of the square form a spacious gallery, commodiously fitted
up with thirty-six stands of convenient dimensions, as a Bazaar. The
interior is lighted and ventilated by three rows of windows, one row on
the Bazaar floor, and two rows in the roof. The roof, the carpentry of
which has been pronounced a master-piece, is supported by twelve
cast-iron columns and sixteen oak pillars, and is 34 ft. 6 in. high; the
height from the floor to the upper point of the ceiling being 54 ft. 4
in. The size within the walls is 138 ft. by 103 ft. The principal
entrance is at the south front from Duncan-street, on each side of which
are three large shops fronting the street, with a suite of six offices
above. Over this entrance is an entablature richly embellished with fine
masonry, and supported with two Ionic columns, and two pilasters or
antaes, 30 ft. high. In the centre of the front, as well as within the
market, it is intended to place a clock. The outer boundary of the
market, which forms three sides of the square, and is separated from
the enclosed market by a carriage road, consists of twenty-five shops
devoted exclusively to butchers and fishmongers. At the south-west
corner of these is an hotel; at the south-east corner, near Call-lane,
are two shops, with offices above; and, in another part, a house for the
clerk of the market. There are four pumps on the premises, and the floor
of the interior is so contrived and fitted up with proper drains, that
it can be washed down at pleasure. The whole will be lighted with gas.
The architect of the Central Market is Francis Goodwin, Esq., and it is
but justice to say, that it is highly creditable to his taste and skill.
The front is of the Grecian order, and perhaps the largest piece of
masonry in the county of York, with the fewest observable joints. It is
expected to prove an advantageous investment.
[2] Too much praise cannot be conferred on this and similar instances
of provincial improvement; while it is much to be regretted
that such praise cannot be extended to the _metropolis_ of
England; for, strange to say, LONDON is still without a
market-place suitable to its commercial consequence. Hence,
Smithfield market is almost a public nuisance, while its extensive
business is settled in public-houses in the neighbourhood; and the
hay market, held in the fine broad street of that name, but ill
accords with the courtly vicinity of Pall Mall and St. James's.
It is, however, to _fruit and vegetable markets_ that this
observation is particularly applicable: for instance, what a
miserable scene is the area of _Covent Garden market_. The
non-completion of the piazza square is much to be lamented, while
splendid streets and towns are erecting on every side of the
metropolis. How unworthy, too, is the market, of association with
Inigo Jones's noble Tuscan church of St. Paul, "the handsomest
barn in Europe." To quote Sterne, we must say "they manage these
things better in France," where the _halles_, or markets are among
the noblest of the public buildings. Neither can any Englishman,
who has seen the markets of Paris, but regret the absence of
fountains from the markets of London. They are among the most
tasteful embellishments of Paris, and their presence in the
markets cannot be too much admired. Water is, unquestionably, the
most salutary and effective cleanser of vegetable filth which is
necessarily generated on the sites of markets; but in London its
useful introduction is limited to a few pumps, and its ornamental
to one or two solitary _jets d'eau_ in almost unfrequented
places. It should be added, that in Southwark, an extensive and
commodious market-place is just completed, and the tolls are
proportionally increasing. A similar improvement is much wanted in
Covent Garden, by which means many of the evils of that spot would
be abated, and instead of seeing Nature's choicest productions
huddled together, and being ourselves tortured in the scramble and
confusion of a crowd, we might then range through the avenues of
Covent Garden with all the comfort which our forefathers were wont
to enjoy on this spot, or certainly with comparative ease.--ED.
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