Columbia Road Flower Market: a guide to Sunday on the street
Columbia Road Flower Market runs every Sunday from 8am until about 3pm on Columbia Road, E2, a short street of Victorian shops off Hackney Road. This weekend that means Sunday 1 November. Come early if you want the full choice of stems and plants; come late if you would rather have room to move, knowing some stalls will have sold out. Hoxton Overground is the nearest station, a 7 to 10 minute walk.
What the market is
The flower market has been part of East London for more than 150 years. On a Sunday the road fills with traders selling cut and dried flowers, houseplants, herbs, bulbs, succulents and garden plants, with the stock moving through the seasons: bulbs in autumn, Christmas trees in December. Several of the families on the pitches have traded here across generations. Behind them is a second market most people come back for: around sixty independent shops, cafes and galleries in the old shopfronts, from vintage clothes and records to delis, garden shops and antiques.
A short history
Columbia Road started as a path along which sheep were driven to the slaughterhouses at Smithfield. It takes its name from the philanthropist Angela Burdett Coutts, who built Columbia Market (long since demolished), and the run of shops you see now went up in the 1860s to serve the nearby Jesus Hospital Estate. According to the market's own history, trading began on Saturdays; as the Jewish population grew a Sunday market was established, the Saturday one lapsed, and flowers took over. Plants came by handcart from market gardens in Hackney and Islington and pitches were claimed on the blow of a whistle. The area went into decline in the 1970s and demolition was discussed. It survived, and the street is now one of the best-known Sunday markets in London.
When to go
The market sets up for 8am. The first hour is for people who know what they want and have somewhere to put it. By late morning the pavement is full and progress is slow; by early afternoon it eases, but the choice narrows as stalls sell out. If you are coming with a pushchair or a wheelchair, the market's own guidance is frank: it gets very crowded on Sundays and step-free access varies from shop to shop.
Getting there and getting home
- Overground: Hoxton is closest. Shoreditch High Street, Old Street, Bethnal Green and Liverpool Street are all within walking distance.
- Bus: routes 8, 26, 55 and 388 serve the area.
- Bike: there is a Santander Cycles dock on Columbia Road itself.
- Car: some local parking controls run on Sundays from 8.30am to 2pm, and they differ by street, so read the signs.
- The big purchase: Pedal Me runs cargo bike deliveries from the market; book with their team on the day.
Bring some cash. Some traders and shops take cards, but not all. Dogs are welcome on a lead. The public toilets are on Ezra Street, two minutes from the market.
Where to eat on the road
Cafe Columbia is the Sunday bagel stop, family run and into its third decade of serving bagels only on Sundays. At number 134, Lee's Seafood occupies a shop that was a pie and mash restaurant for over 50 years and has sold seafood since the Second World War; its fried tiger prawns and calamari have been a Sunday staple for more than 15 years. For a proper sit-down meal, Brawn at 49 Columbia Road is the neighbourhood restaurant, but check the days: its own site lists lunch Tuesday to Saturday and dinner Monday to Saturday, so plan it for another day of the week rather than after the market.
The shops worth stopping for
The shops are the reason to stay past the flowers. H M Jones at 114 Columbia Road sells antique furniture and accessories and opens 9.30am to 4.30pm on Sundays and Saturday afternoons. The market's directory also lists Play Vinyl for records, Vout Vintage for clothes, Ben Southgate for vintage homeware, Printers and Stationers, Campania and The Royal Oak pub. Many open in the week too, with hours that vary, so a weekday visit is the calmer way to see them.
This weekend and the run to Christmas
Today, Saturday 31 October, the street hosts London's Day of the Dead from 12pm: free, with music, dance, costume and a procession. The flower market runs as normal on Sunday 1 November. Looking ahead, the shops have for many years stayed open from 5pm to 9pm on Wednesdays in the weeks before Christmas, and December Sundays bring Christmas trees to the stalls. Check the market's news page for this year's dates before you plan around them.
