About
The Bath Guildhall Market is located on the east side of the High Street, between the Guildhall to the south, The Victoria Art Gallery and Bridge Street to the north and New Market Row to the east (directly across the road from the weir by Pultney Bridge).
The Market is one of the longest running shopping venues in Bath, serving the community for around 800 years and operating from its current venue in one form or another from at least the 16th century. As the Guildhall Market, it came into existence in the 1770’s and acquired its famous dome in 1863. Hicks & Isaac’s 1863 design is still extant today, though many of their stall ‘shops’ have been adapted and over half the market was lost to the 1890s redevelopment.
The southern side of the market and the double entrances as well as the offices and weighing room to the north were demolished in the 1890s when the Guildhall was extended by Major Davis. Much of it was taken over to form the Council car park to the rear. Boatstall Lane has disappeared beneath it, except for a small section leading down through the old East Gate to the river. The doorways to the vaults, slaughter houses and stables can still be seen in the walls lining what is left of Boatstall Lane.
If you happen to find yourself on the opposite side of the river by the weir looking back at the market you can see the windows of some of the many vaults that were part of the original market under the road. 
Many run beneath the market, belonging to the market as well as the proprietors of the New Market Row properties.
The northern High Street entrance, rebuilt in the 1890s, remains largely unaltered, with its Art Nouveau ‘Market’ sign above the doorway. The eastern entrance from New Market Row remains in its late 18th century format, with thick wooden doors, elegant fanlight and pedimented entrance in the centre of the row of shops. Little else remains of the 18th century market except for the ‘Nail’, a stone pillar upon which market transactions used to take place. The ‘Nail’ was recently featured on BBC Breakfast news in the finance section.
The cast iron columns with their floral mouldings and the high iron framed windows are a wonderful feature of our dome which was badly damaged by fire in the early 1970’s and rebuilt 20 years later. The high archways around the 12 sided structure remain and can be seen above the awnings of several of the current stalls.
Over the years, our market has had 3 fruit and vegetable stalls, 2 butchers and 2 fishmongers all operating at the same time. With the opening of supermarkets in the city the market has had to change with the times and has been dragged into the 21st century pretty smartly. We have tried to keep it as traditional as possible and there are to this day a colourful group of stall holders successfully operating from this jewel of Bath.