View of Stocks Market with the Statue of King Charles II and the Church of St. Stephen's Walbrook

Stocks Market was originally established in the 13th Century by the then Lord Mayor, Henry Wallis, under the terms of a charter granted by King Edward I authorizing the construction of a market next to St. Mary Woolchurch. The rents were to be used for the maintenance of London Bridge. The first building was called 'Les Stokkes' after what at the time were the only fixed pair of stocks in the city. During the 15th Century the market became established as a fish and flesh market. It was rebuilt several times and after being burnt in the Great Fire of 1666 St. Mary Woolchurch was demolished to make way for a new general market particularly for fruit and vegetables which soon had a reputation for being one of the best in London. The equestrian statue of Charles II in the centre of the market was presented to the City of London by Sir Robert Vyner, Lord Mayor in 1675. St. Stephen's Walbrook was largely built by Sir Christopher Wren between 1672 and 1679: the steeple was added in 1713. The market was moved to Farringdon Street in 1737, to make way for the Mansion House, and renamed Fleet Market. The statue was taken down and in 1779 and given to a descendant of the donor who installed it at Gautby, Lincolnshire. In 1885 it was moved to Newby Hall, near Ripon.

A larger version of this view with differences in the figures, attributed to Joseph van Aken, is in the collection of the Bank of England (see Col. M.H. Grant, Old English Landscape Painters, Leigh-on-Sea, 1958, II, p. 98). The figure on the horse on the right hand side of the picture and the nearer of the two children on the far right appear in another composition by the artist, The Man of Ross, of which a number of versions survive.