The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in the St Catherine Street,
Cupar,
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
, Scotland. The structure, which is now used as a community events venue, is a Category B
listed building.
History
In the late-1850s, a group of local businessmen decided to form a private company, known as the "Cupar Corn Exchange Company", to finance and commission a
corn exchange for the town. One of the early subscribers, in September 1959, was the
Lord Chancellor,
John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell
John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell, PC, QC, FRSE (15 September 1779 – 23 June 1861) was a British Liberal politician, lawyer and man of letters.
Background and education
The second son of the Reverend George Campbell, D.D., and Magdalene H ...
. The site they selected was on the corner of St Catherine Street and Castlehill.
The foundation stone for the new building was laid in August 1861. It was designed by
Campbell Douglas
Archibald Campbell Douglas (usually simply referred to as Campbell Douglas) (14 June 1828 – 14 April 1910) was a Scottish architect based primarily in Glasgow. He designed many churches in Glasgow and Edinburgh, especially those for the Fre ...
in the
Gothic Revival style
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
, built in
rubble masonry at a cost of £4,000 and was completed in 1862. The design involved a four-stage tower facing onto St Catherine Street. The first stage featured a square headed doorway set in an arched recess flanked by
cast iron lanterns, the second stage involved a French door and a
balcony and the third stage involved a casement window with
ogee-shaped carvings above, while the fourth stage involved a pair of
mullioned windows. The tower was surmounted by a spire with
lucarnes. The Castlehill elevation, which extended back for seven bays, was built in a plainer style and was fenestrated with small square windows on the ground floor and with
dormer
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window.
Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...
windows at attic level. Internally, the principal room was the main hall which was long and wide. The spire, at high, became a dominant feature on the local skyline.
A grand concert, held under the patronage of the
1st Forfarshire Light Horse Volunteer Corps, which had been raised in spring 1870, was held in the building on 12 July 1870. The use of the building as a corn exchange declined significantly in the wake of the
Great Depression of British Agriculture in the late 19th century. Instead, it became a community events venue hosting a variety of festivals, fairs, and concerts.
It was acquired by Cupar Town Council in 1961 and the dormant company, which had developed the corn exchange, was acquired, together with its books and records, by Cupar Heritage in 2016.
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See also
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References
{{reflist
Commercial buildings completed in 1862
Category B listed buildings in Fife
Cupar
Cupar