Dream Decor: shopping at the Northcote Road Antiques Market
Search for one-of-a-kind gems at The Northcote Road Antiques Market. Photo Credit: Natalie Higashi
It may not be the most student-esque (i.e. cheap and transient) thing to seek out antique dealers and source Clarice Cliff ceramics or Victoriana classics, but if you’ve arrived here from the “New World” or just have a secret passion for all things vintage, then you simply can’t miss the Northcote Road Antiques Market.
If you didn’t know any better you could very well miss the small entrance near the end of one of London’s best shopping streets. Once inside, however, the narrow passageway opens up to reveal a large split level room choc-full of antiques and collectibles priced anywhere between £5 and £5000.
The Market, known to many locals as ‘Northcote Road’s best kept secret’ offers a variety of antique household items, small and large furniture and unique gifts and jewellery. Larger items are in less supply than the mounds of flatware, tableware and ceramics, but you can still find high quality chests, cabinets and tables from the 19th century all the way to the Art Deco era.
Many visitors return on a regular basis looking for a piece to fit their new home or building on a collection they started years prior. Whether it’s china or old French fashion prints, many a London home can boast at least one original item bought from this Tardis.
Open seven days a week, this market has more than 40 dealers who run the tightly knit concessions in a communal setting. You will always find at least four or five of them in attendance at any given time, whether they are manning the till, explaining the historical provenance of an item, or measuring a table for a customer. Most of them live in the local area and some have been trading there since the centre opened more than 25 years ago.
For newcomers to London natives alike, the Northcote Road neighbourhood itself is a wonderful piece of the city to explore for its many independent boutiques and restaurants alone. And whether you’ve been mulling over what to bring to your home countries as a token of British life, or setting up a home to stay for a while, there’s no doubt you will find a piece of treasure to match at the Northcote Road Antiques Market.
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Northcote Road is indeed one of the great markets of London. But more than its antiques, it is known for its food – especially on Saturdays. It gives Borough Market a run for its money with its ethnic foods from Greece, Italy and other parts of Europe. Great English cheese stalls rub shoulders with artisan bread sellers; olive vendors* jostle alongside fresh wet fish shops. Some of the finest produce available in London can be bought here.
* I went out with a girt called Olive Vendors once. She was one of the Hertfordshire Vendors, an old county family.
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