Market force
Photography by Pip Farquharson
In the spring of 1973, Sydney was blossoming with new beginnings. When the seashell sails of the Opera House debuted onto the world stage, one million people lined the harbour foreshore to catch a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth II as she opened it. And 3km away in Paddington, another cultural institution was also taking root.
On the grounds of the Uniting Church on Oxford St, a small market known as the ‘Paddington Bazaar’ sprang up one Saturday morning to showcase the handicrafts of local creatives. Paddington was in the midst of a renaissance, shedding its working-class origins and budding with art galleries and a bohemian community of makers and fringe dwellers who gathered to exchange ideas and sell their wares.
The significance of this small collection of stalls could easily be underestimated as a spontaneous community event. But the markets were a key part of a much grander and strategic plan by a young visionary: the minister of church, Reverend Peter Holden.
The Reverend had taken up his Paddington post in 1970 after returning from the legendary Woodstock Festival, where he was part of the organising team. Riding the waves of social change, he was on a mission to shake the shackles of conventional religion, and set out to create a ‘village church’ that would embrace its community for who it was.
Leaving nothing to chance, the progressive minister created a vision document, outlining how his church could work with the talents of a relatively low-socioeconomic community that already had a strong LGBTQ+ presence.
“Paddington is a community with a large proportion of artists — they are our parish, and we have the responsibility for ministering to them in appropriate ways.” Holden wrote. “The role of the village church is to be a catalyst in society which draws local, national and international attention to problems and opportunities and encourages creative action.”
Rather than converting the community, Holden wanted to empower it, and the markets were an effective way to showcase local creativity in action.
Fifty years later, this weekly gathering has weathered economic, social and literal storms to become Sydney’s oldest continuous community and artisan markets. For half a century, as the crowds have ebbed and flowed down Oxford St, Saturdays in Paddington have become as sacred as Sundays.
Today the markets remain at the intersection of community, creativity and church, and it’s a legacy that the current ministry team of Reverend Danielle Hemsworth-Smith and Trish Rooney are proud to carry forward.
“Peter Holden was quite a minister and it’s thanks to him that we sit on the fringe of a traditional church. To be honest, it’s a fabulous legacy to play with. It gives us a sense of possibility,” Hemsworth-Smith says.
Rooney notes that even today, it’s a legacy that can take people by surprise. “Time and time again, people wander into the church on a Saturday from the markets expecting to find a historic building and a couple of men! They’re always surprised to discover it’s an active place of worship and the one that’s responsible for the markets.”
For Hemsworth-Smith, taking over the reins of Paddington Markets in 2020 as part of her ministerial duties, has been something of a homecoming, but not in a religious sense.
“I didn’t grow up in the church,” she says. “My mum was a potter, so I grew up in markets. It’s an interesting personal connection because I understand how hard it can be in mainstream society to be a person that’s creative. It’s just a privilege to be part of this.”
The dual role of minister and ‘market master’ is inked into the small print at Paddington Uniting Church, and it’s a responsibility Rod Pattenden knows all too well. When he arrived in 1983 as a fresh-faced minister, he stepped up to the daunting task of rallying not only a congregation but a diverse community of market goers and stallholders.
“I followed on from a series of young ministers who were open to engaging the community,” he says. “By the time I took over from Reverend Rex Mathews, the markets had taken on a life of its own. My job was to help ground what we’d inherited.”
And thrive it did. In 1984, the markets expanded into the grounds of Paddington Public School, and quickly became a hotbed for young designers like Dinosaur Designs, Lisa Ho and Zimmerman, who found a supportive environment to launch their work into the world and flourish into global brands.
“The markets were a low-risk opportunity for these designers,” explains Pattenden. “For the price of a Saturday fee, they’d have thousands of people pass by their stores and if they had something really interesting to sell, they were able to get on their feet and go on to do bigger things.”
Pattenden steered the markets through 17 years of its heyday and grounded its commercial success by deepening community engagement. The markets helped Paddington School launch a German language program and purchase instruments for the band, and in the wider community it supported programs for people living on the street.
“Because it’s been nurtured by the church, the markets have always maintained those values about community, creativity and doing good things with the money it’s raised,” he says.
Like the ministers before and after him, Pattenden walked his talk. He was instrumental in fostering a vibrant arts community and igniting the church’s LGBTQ advocacy, although he jokes that his most prominent legacy may well be the weather. “In the period I was there, we had had 10 years of drought, so people thought I was terrific because every Saturday it was sunny, and we never had to cancel the market.”
Despite the blue skies and surging crowds, Pattenden also faced his fair share of challenges.
“Midway through my time, we got a letter from the council saying that we didn’t have permission to run the markets,” he explains. “Someone had checked the records and discovered that the market had been given a three month trial in 1973 that it continued running on for 15 years!”
The markets in the 1970s
A legal case ensued, prompting Pattenden and his staff to clarify the value of the markets and whether it was still delivering the social outcomes it was originally created for. “The church decided that this was such an important and wonderfully human community project that we needed to reinvest ourselves into making sure it was there for the future.”
The markets faced its biggest threat 30 years later, when the COVID pandemic shut down trading for six months in 2020. It marked the longest period the markets had been closed in its history, as well as the beginning of Hemsworth-Smith’s tenure.
“I'd only been here for six weeks when I had to pull it down,” she says. “It was heartbreaking to have to tell all these stallholders that we had to shut down part of their income.”
Perhaps the clearest sign of post-pandemic recovery in Paddington was when the familiar sight of Pete Sitta’s white van and plant stall was parked once again at the entrance to the markets. Sitta became a stallholder in 2012 and his warm welcome has made him a favourite among locals.
“The markets have always had a family and community feel,” he says. “There were people who didn’t have kids when I first started and now suddenly everyone’s got kids and dogs. The number of dogs in Paddington over the past 10 years has exploded.”
For Sitta, it’s the community of stallholders and customers that keeps him turning up every Saturday at 5am to secure his parking spot and sustains his faith in people.
“It's a very honest place. I've got a lot of plants everywhere and I've never noticed any go missing. When I step away from the stall, customers just leave money underneath my ATM machine.”
While his work takes him around other markets, Sitta says what sets Paddington Markets apart, both physically and culturally, is its founder.
“Having a heritage church out the front really makes these markets stand out. And the great thing is, it’s a church that wants to unite people. We’re all so diverse these days and everyone’s got different opinions, but that church is open to everybody, and it brings people together with love.”
Hemsworth-Smith agrees. “What makes this market distinctively different is that first and foremost it’s a transformational figure rather than a place of trade. We’ve seen that transformation in stallholders and in the team that help put the markets together. We’ve seen that change on a personal level.”
As a former change manager, Hemsworth-Smith sees the 50th anniversary of Paddington Markets as an opportunity to return to grassroots and renew its commitment to supporting creative craftsmanship, community, and also local businesses.
“I don’t think Paddington would have its heart without the markets on a Saturday,” she says. “We’'e back to over 50% capacity with our stallholders, but we still have a way to go. I would love to see every single shop in Paddington back in full, and I think that will happen when the markets are booming again.”
From where he stands most Saturdays, Sitta believes the markets already serve as a much-needed connection point for residents. “It doesn’t matter if a customer buys a plant or just stops by for a chat. These markets help a lot of people who maybe don’t have anyone else to talk to during the week.”
For Rooney, this is a return to the heart of the market’s legacy. “There’s a photo from the early days of a note pinned on a tree that someone left for a friend to say that they’d gone to get a burger down the road. It captures the essence of these markets, as simply a place where people gathered and felt safe regardless of how they dressed or who they loved.”
That sounds like a social experiment worth investing in for another five decades.
The community is invited to celebrate 50 years of Paddington Markets at a special market on Saturday, October 28, from 10am.