West Smithfield looking toward St Paul's

West Smithfield had been the site of a marketplace since at least the twelfth century. By the Regency period it was "the greatest market for black cattle, sheep and horse in Europe". Hay and straw were also traded here. The name Smithfield possibly derives from "smooth field" (indeed, it is often written as 'smooth field' in medieval manuscripts). The prior of St Bartholomew had the right to hold an annual cloth fair here on Bartholomew-tide, and even today the streets and lanes about St Bartholomew and Smithfield bear names relating to the clothing trade.