The present buildings were designed in 1851, with additions in the 1860s and a refurbishment in 2001. Work to date includes the re-erection in 2004 of the South Portico from the Floral Hall, previously at Covent Garden which was dismantled when the Royal Opera House was reconstructed in the 1990s.

Traders in the 13th century started the market in Borough High Street although it was then closed by parliament in 1755 because of the traffic congestion it caused. However a group of Southwark residents raised £6,000 to buy a patch of land known locally as The Triangle, once the churchyard of St Margaret's, and reopened the market. It has been going ever since and is renowned as a food market.

When we were in Borough Market the stalls extended beyond the main building into the partly covered/partly open space abutting Southwark Cathedral.

Next to Borough Market is the Market Porter Pub which was transformed into the 'Third Hand Book Emporium' in 'Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban' and the building next door to the pub was converted into the 'Leaky Cauldron'.

Stoney Street and Park St have been widely used for filming and were also used in the following films: 'The Young Americans', 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells', 'Bridget Jones's Diary', 'Entrapment', 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' and 'Howards End'.