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The Deptford Foreign Cattle Market: Where Imported Beef Was Landed and Slaughtered

A disease-control law forced imported cattle to be killed at the Thames dockside, and Deptford became the capital's great landing place for foreign beef.

What Was the Deptford Foreign Cattle Market?

The Foreign Cattle Market at Deptford was a riverside market on the south bank of the Thames where livestock imported from overseas was landed, inspected and slaughtered. It operated on the site of the former Deptford Dockyard, owned by the City of London. The Wikipedia article on the Foreign Cattle Market is a good overview. Opening dates differ between accounts: one local history says operation began in 1871, while the Wikipedia article gives January 1872.

Why Britain Created It

The market was tied to animal disease control. A local history blog says the Cattle Diseases Prevention Act of 1869 required imported animals to be slaughtered on arrival at Deptford rather than sent inland, to stop disease spreading through imported livestock. The Wikipedia article adds that animals had to be killed within 10 days of landing and that none could leave the market alive.

A parliamentary debate on a waterside cattle market for the metropolis, held in April 1870 and recorded in Hansard, shows that the plan was argued over before the market opened.

Where the Animals Came From

At first the cattle came from Western Europe, Austria-Hungary and the Russian steppes. Later most came from the Great Plains of the United States, with additional animals from Canada, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. The European trade ended by the late 1880s, except for Iceland.

By the end of 1887 about 9.4 million animals had been landed. The largest annual cattle figure was 224,831 in 1897, and the largest sheep figure was 783,440 in 1882. About 16.5 million animals were slaughtered there overall. The Times reported in 1912 that over four million head of live cattle and sheep had been landed, according to the local history blog.

The Key to What Made It Work

The market worked because it solved a public health problem and a supply problem at the same time. The record behind the Deptford system shows what made it function.

It also had limits. The trade depended on a legal rule that kept animals from living beyond the quayside, and it declined once supply patterns changed.

  • A clear legal rule, slaughter within 10 days and no live animals leaving the market, made disease control enforceable.
  • A riverside dockyard site let ships land animals without crossing the city.
  • The city expanded the market to hold 8,500 cattle and 20,000 sheep, with about 70 slaughterhouses.
  • It drew on many sources of supply, shifting to the American Great Plains as European trade ended.
  • It employed a large local workforce: over 500 women worked in the slaughterhouses in 1871, according to a local history blog.

The Gut Girls of Deptford

The market's workforce became part of local memory. A local history blog says the Act enabled the employment of more than 500 women in the dockyard slaughterhouses in 1871, and that the so-called gut girls gained local renown during the market's heyday. The cattle market boomed for more than thirty years.

The blog is not a scholarly source, so the exact numbers should be checked against archival records before they are repeated.

Decline and Closure

The market declined from 1907. The City of London decided to close it in 1913, after its superintendent George Philcox died in 1912. At the start of the First World War the War Office occupied the site as a supply base that sent rations to troops in France. The City later sold it to the government, and the site became known as Convoys Wharf. Some of its boundary walls are listed buildings.

The local blog describes the site as later used as an army supply depot in both world wars and now abandoned.

Learn More

For more background, read the blog post on Deptford and cattle market history. To see how the beef trade linked ranches in the American plains with London, visit the ranching pages on farm.FM and a farm.FM story on Great Plains cattle and the beef trade.

Timeline

  1. 1869Cattle Diseases Prevention Act passed, reported
  2. 1870Parliament debates a waterside cattle market for London
  3. 1871Market operation begins, per one local history; Wikipedia gives January 1872
  4. 1882Largest annual sheep figure recorded, 783,440
  5. 1887About 9.4 million animals landed to date
  6. 1897Largest annual cattle figure recorded, 224,831
  7. 1907Market begins to decline
  8. 1913City of London decides to close the market
  9. 1914War Office occupies the site as a supply base

Frequently asked questions

When did the Deptford Foreign Cattle Market open?

Sources differ. One local history says it operated from 1871, while the Wikipedia article gives January 1872. It stood on the former Deptford Dockyard, owned by the City of London.

Why were imported cattle slaughtered at Deptford?

The Cattle Diseases Prevention Act of 1869 required imported animals to be killed at the dockside to prevent disease from spreading. Animals had to be slaughtered within 10 days and none could leave alive.

Where did Deptford's cattle come from?

At first from Western Europe, Austria-Hungary and Russia, and later mostly from the US Great Plains, with others from Canada, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.

What happened to the Deptford Cattle Market?

The City of London decided to close it in 1913. In the First World War the War Office used the site as a supply base, and it later became known as Convoys Wharf.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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