Arts & crafts

There aren’t any dedicated arts and crafts markets in central London. Covent Garden is mostly national multiples, not individual local traders, due to the high rents.

Many places such as Camden Market sell predominantly imports, rather than stall holder produced goods.

What are you seeking?

There are many local artisans selling their quality goods through their local craft guilds, but these are not London based.

We are looking for individual craft person. E.g. weavers, knitters, potters, jewelry makers. We have found some fine ones in France. Thanks for questions.

These are rather high-end places. I'm mostly a window-shopper, and I'd rather look at the best stuff.

Contemporary Applied Arts, on the South Bank -- various media

London Glassblowing, on the South Bank -- art glass; also glassblowing demos

Vessel Gallery, not far from Portobello Rd. market -- art glass

Contemporary Ceramics Center, very near the British Museum -- ceramics

The V & A has a good shop.

Liberty Department Store used to have a craft gallery, but that is no longer the case.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are some more good spots. You might turn them up by Googling. Keep your eyes open for brochures in the above galleries. They may be members of a guild that distributes a brochure listing its members.

I looked up Arts & Crafts Markets near London and Piccadilly seemed to be the one most mentioned. Most of the Classic Street Markets are known for Antiques & Collectibles. A lot of the neighborhood Churches and Market Halls or parking lots have crafts fairs, rummage, or boot sales. These are sometimes listed in a "Junkers" weekly handout or look on line for weekly happenings. Watch the show "Put your money where your mouth is" on Netflix which shows 2 dealers in a contest for making the most profit (for charity) from their buys from all these places and auctions.

Am not aware of a market in Piccadilly? But check out Craft magazine issued by the British Craft Council and Selfidge Magazine. The best craft markets i have seen in London are one off specials, over a weekend or longer. They would be listed in those publications.

Notonthehighstreet.com is another good online platform selling goods direct from the artists.

Last time I visited the Piccadilly market, the goods for sale were mass market/imports rather than locally produced, but I haven’t been for a couple of years.

Emma, have you looked for crafts at Liberty recently? It used to be a regular stop for me back in the 1970s and 1980s. There was a separate section of the store with "one-off" items. I was disappointed to find nothing at all like that when I returned to London in 2017. There were a few scattered decorative objects, but nothing I though was worth a special trip to the store. The building is lovely, of course.

I agree about the weekend sales you can bump into in community halls and the like. You're buying directly from the craftsperson and can pick up some attractive, inexpensive souvenirs. However, most of the time you won't find top-quality (museum-quality) items. If you're looking for things of that nature, Craft magazine is probably an excellent source of information.