A photographic and historical view of the city of Derby and its surroundings

Mark Miley

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Derby In Pictures

A photographic and historical view of the city of Derby and its surroundings

Mark Miley

Shop Front

Derby In Pictures

Victorian Market Hall

On Saturday 24th May 2025 the doors re-opened on one of the finest buildings in the city. Following a £35 million pound restoration the magnificent Victorian Market Hall was handed back to the people of DerbyThe market was first opened in 1866, 2 years after its foundation stone was laid by the Mayor of Derby, Thomas Roe Esq. Costing £29000 the building was the work of local engineer, the Melbourne based Rowland Mason Ordish, who is also noted for the design of many iconic London landmarks including the Albert Bridge, the dome at the Royal Albert Hall, and, together with William Barlow, his detailed work on the single spanned roof of St Pancras station, The Market building was officially opened on 29 May 1866, by the Mayor, Frederick Longdon. At the opening ceremony, the Duke of Devonshire gave a speech and there were parades throughout the town. A choir of 600 performed the ‘Messiah’. At that time the hall contained 38 butchers’ shops. As well as 150 stalls selling flowers, fruit, vegetables, books, newspapers, groceries, jewellery, sewing machines, sweets and toys. On the balcony, there were refreshment stalls and several drapers.Over the following years the building has had 2 previous refurbishments, the first in 1938 and then again in 1987. During this second project workers discovered unique traces of Derby’s past, including a well measuring six feet wide and thirty feet deep which experts believe could have served buildings which stood on the site prior to 1864. Tunnels running between the Lock-Up Yard and the Guildhall were also discovered and were probably used to move prisoners between the two sites. The Market Hall was reopened by HRH Princess Margaret Countess of Snowden on 27 November 1989 following the last restoration project.This latest restoration, however, was on an even greater scale with the building being closed and sheathed in scaffolding for many years. The work was completed in two phases by contractors Wates Group, firstly on the roof and exterior of the building, followed by reconstruction of the interior of the Market Hall. The building’s external restoration included rebuilding the roof and external glazing as well as repairing all of the external masonry. Internally, non-period features were removed, and the feature staircase was reinstated along with reconstruction of all trader units, new plumbing, drainage, lighting and electrical systems. Huge new windows were installed on the front of the building overlooking the relandscaped Osnabrück SquareThe design of the interior moves away from the traditional idea of a market. Instead of rows of stalls there are street food vendors, a bar and a gin distillery (pictured below) as well as performance spaces and pop-up stallsOn its opening 3 days over 30000 people came to see the this magnificent building, one of the finest of its kind in the country

All of the photographs contained in this website remain the property of Mark Miley and cannot be copied for commercial or promotional uses without prior written permission from Mark Miley.For information about using any of these photographs contact Mark Miley at moc.liamg%40seiknomkcatta  

Created by Mark Miley

All rights Reserved

All of the photographs contained in this website remain the property of Mark Miley and cannot be copied for commercial or promotional uses without prior written permission from Mark Miley.For information about using any of these photographs contact Mark Miley at moc.liamg%40seiknomkcatta  

Created by Mark Miley

All rights Reserved

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