Royal Agricultural Hall - originally the ’Agricultural Hall’ - was opened in 1862 for holding agricultural shows.
Royal Agricultural Hall - now a Grade II listed building - was the home of the Royal Smithfield Club’s Smithfield Show from 1862 to 1938. It hosted the Royal Tournament from its inauguration in 1880 until the event became too large for the venue and moved to Olympia in the early years of the 20th century. It hosted the first Crufts dog show in 1891.
The Royal Agricultural Hall had its origins when in 1798 the Duke of Bedford, Sir Joseph Banks and other nobles and gentlemen decided to form the Smithfield Club, which would hold annual exhibitions of livestock, agricultural produce and agricultural implements.
Following some 40 years of exhibiting, first in Smithfield, then at a site in the Barbican, then Baker Street, it was proposed that the club erect a hall large enough to accommodate their annual display and also to be available for other shows. The foundation stone was laid in 1861 and the Agricultural Hall held its first exhibition in 1862.
When built it was one of the largest exhibition halls in the world.
During the Second World War the hall was commandeered by the Government, and from 1943, following the destruction of Mount Pleasant sorting office in an air raid, the Parcels Depot was moved to the hall.
