Bartholomew Fair was the Destination City of its day. Here’s how re-staging the Fair and developing a Museum of the Streets could help us envision a Liveable City for the future.
This initial narrative will be expanded, with more links to the Connections blog and other references. The aim is to develop an agenda-setting piece for the February 2023 EC1 Echo - long online, summary in print - plus associated experiments. Specifics can be discussed and developed within this evolving framework. Initial Destination City-Liveable City post here, with lot of links.
Both the church and hospital celebrate their 900th anniversary in 2023 with Barts 900, and are seeking funding.
At its height in the 17th century the Fair lasted for a fortnight, covered four parishes and attracted tens of thousands of people. There were puppet shows and streets performers, eating and drinking, plays and pamphlets.
The City of London is looking at new ways to make the Square Mile more attractive for business, visitors and residents. The Corporation spent £1 million on an event in October 2022 - featuring puppets and street performances - and is planning more as part of its Destination City programme. That has a first year budget of £2.5 million
The area around Smithfield is again going to be pivotal because of access provided by the Elizabeth Line, the new Museum of London and redevelopment of the Smithfield meat market.
The area north of the market, in Islington, has a growing 24 hour economy, fuelled by clubs, bars and restaurants. The vision for the new Smithfield includes 24 hour attractions.
Since the 1950s the City has made the area between Smithfield and Moorgate its main residential district, with the development of the Golden Lane and Barbican Estates, and Barts Square. This was celebrated by the Corporation in 1970 with a film about creating The Living City.
The Corporation also designated the area Culture Mile, promising a blend of culture-based entertainment and innovation, with greening and street-level improvements designed for visitors, businesses and residents. In 2018 £300,000 was spent developing a Look and Feel strategy.
That vision is now unclear, with the decision to transition the Culture Mile programme into one led by Destination City and a new Business Improvement District(BID). There is no agreed strategy for the area that embraces all new initiatives.
The Museum of London is going to be closed for four years, and residents are protesting at plans to build 780,000 sq ft of offices on the site instead of a Centre for Music.
In 1855 the Fair was suppressed for encouraging debauchery and public disorder. How could we re-stage Bartholomew Fair in ways that support Barts900 and provide a model for Destination City, while contributing to the vision of a Liveable City working for business, residents and visitors?
In the June/July 2022 edition of the EC1Echo City councillor Matthew Bell and local resident David Wilcox sketched out how Barts Fair 2023 could be re-staged both on-the-street for a day and virtual all-year.
David followed up with ideas for a Museum of the Streets, created while the Museum of London is closed, using digital technology to help people explore Smithfield and nearby Clerkenwell bother physically and virtually.
Bringing together different skills and interests to do that, and re-stage Bartholomew Fair - while creating an information hub about the area today - would help fulfil the ambition of the new BID to promote collaboration. The relationships developed could provide the basis for exploring what a Liveable City might be in the future.
Bartholomew Fair was the Destination City of its day. Here’s how re-staging the Fair and developing a Museum of the Streets could help us envision a Liveable City for the future.