Giant cast-iron columns stand under a timber and glass roof in a Grade II* listed Victorian hall.
What Leadenhall Market looks like
Leadenhall Market is a Grade II* listed complex of roofed arcades lined with open-fronted shops, built in 1881 to a design by Sir Horace Jones. Giant cast-iron columns stand along the arcades, and a simple arched roof of timber and glass runs over them. At the centre, an octagonal crossing rises to a dome and lantern above the cobbles.
The front is red brick and Portland stone, with a pair of four-storey pavilions topped by shaped gables and turrets. The wide central entrance is in a Queen Anne Revival style, with Dutch-style houses on either side and stone pediments carved with dragons, swags and shields.
The shopfronts keep their original wrought-iron hooks, and many shops still have spiked racks for hanging game. The ornate roof structure is painted in several colours above the cobbled floors. The stamped and carved detail is picked out in rich colours too.
The at numbers 10-12 is a pub inside the arcades, with a red frontage and Young's signage. Brick extensions from 1885 line both sides of , and glazed passages in the south-west quadrant date from the same year. Bull's Head Passage runs through the market south of the central crossing.
Shot in Leadenhall Market
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone used the market in 2000 and 2001 to stand in for the London area leading to the Leaky Cauldron. Brannigan (1975) shot in Grand Avenue and near the Lamb Tavern, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) used the central crossing.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 2001
The market arcades
Part of the film was shot in the market in 2000 and 2001, standing in for the London area leading to the Leaky Cauldron. The photograph shows the arcades as they stand, with cobbles underfoot and tables set out under the shopfronts.
Brannigan, 1975
Brannigan places John Wayne and Richard Attenborough in Grand Avenue as a bus passes in Gracechurch Street. The photograph shows the arcade toward its far arch with the cobbles empty. Street View
Brannigan, 1975
In Brannigan, Wayne approaches the Lamb Tavern. The pub is still open, and the photograph shows its red frontage with Young's and LAMB signs.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, 2009
Terry Gilliam's Imaginarium wagon was set up under the clock in the central cobbled crossroads of the covered market. Some shots filmed in the market appear in the official trailer.
What Leadenhall Market can double for
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy
Leadenhall's architect was influenced by Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Both have a crossing where arcades meet in an octagon under a glass dome. The Galleria's octagon has a mosaic floor with coats of arms set in it, where Leadenhall has cobbles. Frame low along the arcade so the octagon's floor stays out of shot, because the mosaic is the difference a wide shot shows. Try searching glass dome octagon now.
Barton Arcade in Manchester, England
Barton Arcade in Manchester is a cast-iron and glass arcade completed in 1871, with the same cast iron as Leadenhall's giant columns. Its balconies sit on two levels and curve at the corners. Keep the frame at street level, since the curved balconies are the difference in any shot above shopfront height. Try searching cast-iron glass arcade now.
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