The design has not only focused on the restoration of tradition but it has also worked hard to bring out the personality of the interior. Throughout the pub you will find subtle and cheeky references to the Fox. From the intimate private dining rooms called the Foxes Lare and the Foxes den, which are ideal for small groups and businesses lunches to the aptly named Vixens and Reynard’s which are of course our ladies and gents. Complimented with local artwork of Smithfield to further emphasise the character and culture of the area.

Smithfield’s livestock market grew in size and significance over the centuries until by the end of the Eighteenth Century the number of animals being brought into London from around the country was causing mayhem in the area and encroaching on the nearby streets and houses.

In 1852 the Smithfield Market Removal Act was passed, relocating the livestock market to a new open site north of Islington. Plans were immediately put into place to start a new market in the area which would specialise in cut meat.

The arrival of the railways had already brought about an amazing revolution in the movement of animals. Before then fresh meat could only be transported on the hoof, which took time and was wasteful, as it was reckoned that each cow lost about 20 pounds in weight on a 100 mile walk. By 1849 almost one million of the animals sold at Smithfield came to London by rail. 

When plans for the new market were drawn up they included an underground area where meat could be unloaded from the trains. However it needed an Act of Parliament to erect the new buildings. That was acquired by the City of London Corporation in 1860 and the City Architect, Sir Horace Jones, was charged with designing the new market.  Work began in 1866, the first stone was laid in 1867 and the whole project was completed a year later – a vast cathedral-like structure of ornamental cast iron, stone, Welsh slate and glass. It was a place full of light and air, consisting of two main buildings linked under a great roof and separated by a central arcade, the Grand Avenue.

The opening ceremony on 24 November 1868, headed by the Lord Mayor of London, was a grand ceremony and banquet attended by 1200 guests with music by the Grenadier Guards and lavish feasting on “boars’ heads and barons of beef”, while the toast was “tolls to the Corporation, cheap meat for the people and fair profits to salesmen.” Very soon afterwards, four more buildings were added. Of these, only the Poultry Market (originally opened in 1875) is still in use today.

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Richard Balfour-Lynn's Vision
The vision was English Pink Sparkling Wine
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