Grainger Market

The Grainger Market in Newcastle is a North East institution. It opened in 1835 after an opening ceremony attended by over 2,000 people. The market boasted 243 shops including numerous butchers and vegetable stalls, and 14 entrances.

The Grainger Market is one of the only remaining the 19th century covered markets still trading as a market. Today it employs 800 people and boasts 200,000 shoppers every week. The Grainger Market was built by Richard Grainger and architect John Dobson in 1835. It revolutionised shopping in its day. When it opened it was the largest indoor market in the world.

The market was laid out in a grid-iron pattern with 156 butchers shops and an arcade selling fruit and vegetables. Even today the Grainger Market has managed to keep some of its original features. There has been a weigh house since the market was built to weigh hunks of meat. Today it's the shoppers who queue up to be weighed. The "Marks and Spencer Original Penny Bazaar" in The Grainger market is reputedly the smallest M&S outlet in the World.

The market also still has an air raid shelter underneath the length of the arcade.

The Grainger Market has survived fires, two world wars and threatened demolition, and is about to undergo another transformation with improvements to bring it into the 21st century.

Description courtesy of The BBC.






December 2023



Scorpio Shoes Closure.

A mainstay of the market recently announced it's closure.




T. E. Liddell.

A former grocers undergoing a refit.




Grainger Street Entrance.

The Issac Waltons floor tiles at the Grainger Street entrance. The floor was placed to advertise Isaac Walton tailoring which had shops at three different locations over time on Grainger Street.




Former Mark Toney's Ice Cream Parlour.

Mark Toney's first store in Newcastle opened in the Grainger Market in 1902. Now a grocer.




New Roof.

The building's barrelled glass roof has recently been restored.




Waiter Figure.

A fixture of the market which, if memory serves, has had a number of locations.






26th May 2018



The Cheap Tab Shop.




A Butcher at work.




T. E. Liddell, Greengrocer.










22nd March 2016












25th November 2014






M&S Penny Bazaar.

Opened in 1985, this is the world’s smallest Marks and Spencer’s store, and the last surviving example of the Penny Bazzar shops which gave birth to the Marks and Spencer’s chain stores we know today.




Katherine's Florist.

Katherine's Florists announced it's closure in the Grainger Market in 2016 after 47 years.








A Busy Greengrocers.




Matthew's Cheese Shop.




Rob McIntyre Shoe Repair.




A. Kettlewell Fresh Farm Shop.






M. J. Fagan Nurseries.






The Corporation Weigh House.

Originally used by traders to weigh their deliveries, today it is staffed by Newcastle City Council with various facilities including getting yourself weighed.





Waiter Figure.
























10th March 2009
































26th August 2007








More Information:
See my other photos around The Grainger Market:

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I love the Grainger Market, I go tere early to avoid the crowds. In fact was there a few days ago, took a photo and done a post on my blog.

Newcastle Photos said...

I'll have a look thanks.

Unknown said...

What tools shop called