The old kent market

Once a cinema, this beautiful old building has now been refurbished into a market creating a new community hub, contributing to the ongoing regeneration of Margate, celebrating our passion for food, drink & culture in Kent.

What’s inside…

• Rat Race
• The Greek Kitchen
• Mama Mia Pizzeria
• Bagel Mama
• Gina’s Old Kent Bakery
• Master Foody Moody’s
• Burrito Box
• Breen’s sweets
• BB’s cafe and bar
• The Little prince pub
• Mae’s bar
• Old kent Roastery
• Summer Salt
• Herboristerie
• Lee Lee London

Our story

The building that houses The Old Kent Market has a long and colourful history stretching back to the 19th century. In the 1880s, it was home to Crawford & Co., a well-known wine and spirit merchant that played an important role in the town’s trading life.

By the early 20th century, the site took on a new identity as a cinema. On 26 June 1911, it opened as The Parade Cinema, entertaining Margate’s growing community of filmgoers. Renamed the Classic Repertory Cinema in 1952, it continued to welcome audiences until its closure in 1963.

In the years that followed, the building adapted to changing tastes. It became a bingo hall, then, from 1979 to 1981, an adult cinema showing uncensored films. In 1982 it found new life again as a snooker club, later becoming known as the Thanet Matchroom Social Club.

A new chapter began in 2013, when Andy Barrett purchased the building and launched an ambitious restoration. After years of neglect, the space was revitalised and officially reopened as The Old Kent Market on Good Friday, 2016, with a grand opening on 1 May 2016.

Today, the market is a lively hub filled with independent stalls offering local food, artisan drinks, handmade crafts, and vintage finds. One of its most distinctive features is a double-decker bus café, a playful addition that perfectly reflects Margate’s creative and coastal character.

Standing proudly on the corner of Fort Hill and Mansion Street, the Old Kent Market is now much more than a shopping destination.

It is a place where locals and visitors can eat, drink, socialise, and explore, all within a building that still carries the echoes of its past as a cinema, social club, and bingo hall. The result is a space where history and modern community life come together in a uniquely Margate way.