Home / Coverage areas / Dufferin Street
A Market That Survived Its Own Bad Name
Locksmith Dufferin Street: Between A Market And 120,000 Graves
One neighbour has been trading since the 1600s, once known as Squalors' Market. The other has held 120,000 burials since the 1660s. Call 020 8534 4949 for a locksmith who knows this pocket of the City properly.
- 24/7 Callouts
- Victorian & Post-War Buildings
- Residential & Commercial
- Dufferin Street Coverage
Covering Dufferin Street and the immediate area around it. Open in Google Maps
Why Dufferin Is Different
A trading street on one side, a graveyard on the other
Whitecross Street borders this small pocket of the City, and its market has been going, in one form or another, since the 1600s. It started life as an unauthorised Sunday market, scandalous at the time for trading on the Sabbath, and drew a crowd rough enough that by the Victorian era the whole stretch had earned itself the nickname Squalors' Market. Journalist James Greenwood wrote about the poverty there for the Pall Mall Gazette, and the name stuck for decades.
It survived anyway. Today it runs as a respected weekday food market, one of the oldest continuously operating street markets anywhere in London, its disreputable past almost entirely forgotten by the lunchtime crowds who queue there now.
120,000 Burials On The Other Side
Bunhill Fields sits close by on the opposite side, and its own history goes back further still. The ground is thought to take its name from Bone Hill, after quantities of bone from St Paul's Cathedral's old charnel house were spread across the marshy land here, well before 1549. Walled off as a formal burial ground after the plague year of 1665, it went on to hold roughly 120,000 burials before closing in 1852, almost entirely non-conformists whose faith kept them from consecrated churchyards elsewhere.
William Blake and Daniel Defoe are both buried there, a stone's throw from a street that spent a century known for exactly the opposite kind of local reputation. A market people once avoided admitting to visiting, beside a graveyard people still visit on purpose. We work on buildings shaped by both sides of that history, and neither gets treated as more important than the other.
Looking for something in particular? Our lockout page, repair booking, and 24-hour line are all just a click away.
What Dufferin Street Residents & Businesses Call About
The jobs this small patch actually brings in
Victorian Shop-Houses
Older buildings along the street's edges often carry doors that have outlasted several tenants. A patient lock repair keeps that history intact.
Book aheadPost-War Estate Flats
A council estate tucked inside the core of this small area brings its own generation of fittings. A proper lock replacement suits what's actually there.
Book aheadLockouts Near A Working Market
Lunchtime footfall picks up fast along this stretch. Prompt, discreet entry counts for a lot when a crowd's nearby.
Same-day prioritySmall Shops & Food Stalls
Businesses trading near the market need reliable commercial security, whether that's a permanent shopfront or a lock-up unit.
Book aheadBroken Or Snapped Keys
Older Victorian ironmongery and a fresh-cut key don't always agree. Our broken keys page covers what a safe fix typically involves.
Call nowOut-of-Hours Emergencies
Between market hours and residential life, this patch keeps unusual rhythms. Our out-of-hours line covers whatever hour a fault turns up.
Call nowSimply put: we cover the fitting, repair and replacement of physical locks and hardware. Cutting keys falls outside that, as does any shared building's access-control system, which sits with its managing agent.
Locked Out Near Dufferin Street
What actually happens when a door won't open
Near the older shop-fronted buildings, expect ironmongery that's had decades to accumulate quirks of its own. We look properly before touching anything, rather than guessing from the frontage.
Inside the estate at the centre of the area, faults tend to run more ordinary: a sticking latch, a cylinder that's simply had its day, nothing needing special treatment.
Whichever building it is, the least invasive method comes first. It settles the vast majority of lockouts here without a drill ever being needed.
A key that's sheared cleanly in two is usually the more manageable fix compared to one that's actually missing. Our broken keys and lost keys pages set out the difference.
Around Dufferin Street
The streets nearby
Forms the northern boundary of this pocket.
The arts centre and estate, just south.
The 1950s estate, a short walk west.
The historic church, just across Old Street.
The wider postcode this pocket sits within.
The six-postcode overview, for context on the wider patch we cover.
What We Do
Services around Dufferin Street
Two Neighbours, Two Very Different Pasts
Reading the difference between them at the door
A good account of Bunhill Fields' own strange history, from Bone Hill to burial ground to public garden, is kept by ianvisits' detailed history of the site. It's worth a read if you want the fuller picture beyond what fits here.
Buildings closer to that side of the pocket tend to be older and quieter in character, reflecting a district that grew up around a place of rest rather than commerce. Closer to the market side, buildings have absorbed more wear from decades of daily footfall and trade.
Neither pattern is better or worse to work on, just different. We ask what a building's actually used for before assuming what its hardware ought to look like.
If you're not sure which side your address leans toward, mention nearby landmarks when you call and we'll place it quickly.
The Process
Booking a locksmith Dufferin Street callout
- Get in touchCall or WhatsApp, whichever suits you better.
- Describe the buildingMarket-side and estate-side jobs aren't quite the same.
- Engineer assesses firstA price follows the visit, not the other way round.
- Wrapped up same daySecond visits are rare rather than expected.
Access & Traffic
Reaching you inside this small pocket
Market hours along Whitecross Street bring a genuine surge of pedestrians at lunchtime, and vehicle access can tighten noticeably during that window. An engineer who knows the market's rhythm plans around it rather than getting stuck in it.
The estate at the centre of the area has its own internal walkways that don't always suit a direct vehicle approach, so we're used to covering the last stretch on foot.
Being close to Old Street station helps on the public transport side, which we factor in alongside road access when planning how fast we can reach you.
Why People Call Us
Why locals keep our number handy
- We look past the frontage. A shopfront's age doesn't tell the whole story of what's fitted inside.
- Gentlest option first, always. Drilling only follows once nothing softer has worked.
- Not fazed by crowds. A busy market lunchtime doesn't slow down how carefully we work.
- Estate and shopfront both covered. Residential and commercial jobs, handled to the same standard.
- Clear on where we stop. No key cutting, no shared access-panel work.
- Reachable whatever the hour. Market mornings and quiet estate evenings both get proper cover.
Nearby
Areas around Dufferin Street
Common Questions
The Market's Rough Past
Was the market genuinely once known by an unflattering nickname?
Yes. By the Victorian era it had become known locally as Squalors' Market, reflecting the poverty documented by journalists at the time.
How did trading here actually start?
As an unofficial Sunday market in the 1600s, which was considered scandalous given the strict observance of the Sabbath at the time.
Is the market still going today?
Yes, now as a well-regarded weekday food market, its earlier reputation almost entirely left behind.
Bunhill Fields & The Burial Ground
Where does the name Bunhill actually come from?
Most likely from Bone Hill, after bones from an old City charnel house were spread across this marshy ground centuries ago.
How many people were actually buried there?
Around 120,000, mostly between 1665 and 1852, predominantly non-conformists who couldn't be buried in consecrated ground elsewhere.
Is it true well-known historical figures are buried there?
Yes. William Blake and Daniel Defoe are among those interred at Bunhill Fields.
Can visitors still walk through Bunhill Fields today?
Yes, it's now a public garden, open during daylight hours, and a genuinely peaceful spot despite the crowds nearby.
Booking On Dufferin Street
Do you cover both the market side and the estate side equally?
Yes, we treat this whole small pocket as one patch rather than favouring either side.
Can you reach a lockout quickly during a busy market lunchtime?
Yes, we plan around that surge in footfall rather than letting it slow a response down.
What if my flat is inside the estate and hard to find by street address alone?
Just mention that when you call. We're familiar with the layout and will confirm the details with you directly.
Is proper out-of-hours cover available in such a small area?
Yes, genuinely. A small footprint doesn't mean fewer emergencies, and our hours reflect that.
Will the price change depending on which side of the pocket I'm calling from?
No. Cost is based on the job itself, not which side of the street it happens to sit on.
A market with a past, a graveyard with a story. One number either way.
Shopfront or estate flat, older building or newer one — pick up the phone and we'll send an engineer who already knows this small patch well.