 The first record of a " new market in Covent Garden " is in 1654 when market traders set up stalls against the garden wall of Bedford House . The Earl of Bedford acquired a private charter from Charles II in 1670 for a fruit and vegetable market , permitting him and his heirs to hold a market every day except Sundays and Christmas Day . The original market , consisting of wooden stalls and sheds , became disorganised and disorderly , and the 6th Earl requested an Act of Parliament in 1813 to regulate it , then commissioned Charles Fowler in 1830 to design the neo @-@ classical market building that is the heart of Covent Garden today . The contractor was William Cubitt and Company . Further buildings were added — the Floral hall , Charter Market , and in 1904 the Jubilee Market for foreign flowers was built by Cubitt and Howard . 
