Haymarket is one of those singleton, or one-word, street names, like Cheapside, Houndsditch, Piccadilly, Strand, and many others. And – yay! – the name is what it says. From Elizabethan times there was a market for hay on the site, and in 1697 the street was paved, each cartload of hay contributing to the expense.
However, there were merchants other than those dealing in hay: one of the earliest tradesmen in the Haymarket appears to have been a vendor of sea-coal. A token used by him is in the Museum of London; on one side it says: “Nathaniel Robins, at the Seacoale seller, 1666” and on the other, “Hay Markett, in Piccadilla, his half-penny”.
In 1708 Haymarket was described as “a very spacious and public street, in length 340 yards, where is a great market for hay and straw”. In 1720 an enterprising carpenter named John Potter built a small playhouse in the Haymarket. The small playhouse was later called the Hay Market and then the Little Theatre in the Hay. It is now the Theatre Royal Haymarket, the UK’s third oldest playhouse still in use.
According to London historian Edward Walford, “The cost of the building was £1,000, and Potter further expended £500 in decorations, scenery, and dresses. He leased the theatre, immediately after its completion, to a company of French actors, who were at that time much favoured by the English aristocracy.”
In 1729 Henry Fielding started what might today be called a string of hits in the theatre, starting with a burlesque and ending with a political satire that so enraged the prime minister, Robert Walpole, that he introduced what became unprecedented censorship powers that effectively closed the theatre for several years.
In 1807 Haymarket was described as “an excellent street, 1,020 feet in length, of considerable breadth, and remarkably dry, occasioned by the descent from Piccadilly”.
A few years later, the Prince Regent, later King George IV, thought that London was looking tired and old and he instructed John Nash to enhance the appearance of the city. One enhancement included the Little Theatre in the Hay and the Theatre Royal Haymarket opened in 1821 with a production of Sheridan’s ‘The Rivals’.
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5 responses to “Haymarket: coal tokens, theatres, and censorship”
I always like the one-word names for streets, and you seem to have covered those that I can think of. Strange to think how many people use Haymarket every day, and never associate it with the sale of the stuff.
Best wishes, Pete.
A short and funny (well, slightly amusing) story: years ago when my mother first visited London from New York, she and I were in a taxi and she referred to ‘The Haymarket’. The cabbie told her off vigorously for using the extraneous ‘the’. She thought it was hilarious.
She’s not alone Elizabeth. I know many Londoners who say ‘The’ too.
Reblogged this on First Night History.
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