Our latest Collections Crossover email is inspired by the news this week that Smithfield Meat Market, with a history stretching back almost 900 years is to close. On Tuesday, the City of London Corporation's council voted to stop operating not only Smithfield, but also Billingsgate fish market. No official closing date has been given, but operations will continue at both markets until at least 2028. After that, the future is much more uncertain leading many traders to voice their anger and devastation at the decision.

Markets have been a central point of commerce and social interaction for centuries, and have even provided literary inspiration - for example Dickens described Smithfield's 'filth and fat and blood and foam' in Great Expectations. We wanted to highlight the excellent material we have on this subject. First of all, our images on Smithfield and Billingsgate, as well as Smithfield's Poultry Market (already earmarked as the site for the new London Museum), are taken from a variety of sources ranging from engravings in the Illustrated London News to Gustave Dore's atmospheric views of Billingsgate in Jerrold's 'London' as well as John Gay's fantastic photography in the Historic England archive.

Beyond these ancient bastions of London's larder, we thought we'd pull together a further selection of markets from around the UK and beyond, many of which are sadly now obsolete. Images come from countless collections, including the Grenville Collins postcard collection, Francis Frith, and street photography by snappers such as Shirley Baker and John Krish. It's fascinating to imagine the fun of rummaging among the bric-a-brac and junk stalls at Caledonian Market, browsing antiques in Portobello Road at a time when prices were still keen, or buying the Christmas turkey at Leadenhall Market. We have over 10,500 images online with the keyword 'market' so this selection is only a small sample, but do take a look at our wares and see if you can grab a bargain.