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.

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14th January 2025

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September 2024

The market is about to undergo another round of renovations.

Two new ‘pavilions’, one at each end of the Arcade, will create new spaces for a variety of uses, both in the day and into the evening, whilst still having traders located to each side. The Nun Street Pavilion will include tiered seating and steps up a first-floor table seating area, and new retail and storage spaces below. The Nelson Street Pavilion will provide a permanent servery counter, an upper-level platform for seating and events and additional new retail spaces below. The Arcade will also benefit from new terrazzo flooring, and the removal of freestanding central retail units, which were added in the 1970s, will create space for additional seating and events. Amongst other things planned there are renovations to all 14 entrances, refurbishment of the external area around the entrances and the toilets.

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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.

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26th May 2018

The Cheap Tab Shop.

A Butcher at work.

T. E. Liddell, Greengrocer.

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22nd March 2016

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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.

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10th March 2009

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26th August 2007

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More Information:

• BBC Nation On Film: Grainger Market
• Sitelines: Grainger Market
• Our Grainger Market
• Co-Curate: Grainger Market
• Historic England: Grainger Market

See my other photos around The Grainger Market:

• Clayton Street
• Grainger Street
• Nelson Street
• Newgate Street
• Old Photos of The Grainger Market