Antiques Magazine Archive, March 2025

With news that two historic City of London markets seem destined to close forever – after over 800 years of continual trading – the antiques market continues to flourish, both online and in our towns and villages.

But unlike the meat and fish of Smithfield and Billingsgate, with antiques you’ll find that every item has a story – and every corner of an antiques shop hides a potential treasure. There’s always a thrill in the search, no matter what you're looking for.

As we pondered the closure of these historically significant London markets, and read up about their history, it got us thinking: how did antique collecting start – and how long has it been going on for?