The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in Exchange Street in

Harleston, Norfolk Harleston is a town in the civil parish of Redenhall with Harleston, in the South Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It is from Norwich. In 2018, it had an estimated population of 5,067. Harleston is on the Norfolk/Suffolk b ...

, England. The structure, which used as a vintage and antiques emporium until June 2023, is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

Until the mid-19th century, corn merchants conducted their trade in the open air around the Market Cross, which was situated where the Clock Tower now stands, on the north side of the Market Place. Following the repeal of the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. The la ...

in 1846, local leaders decided to commission a purpose-built

corn exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchanges. Such trade was common in towns ...

. The new building was designed by John Bunn of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, built with a

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

finish and was completed in 1849. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto Exchange Street. The central bay, which was slightly projected forward, featured a

tetrastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

formed by four

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but wit ...

columns supporting a heavy

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

. Inside the portico, there was a double doorway with a moulded

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, ...

and a rectangular

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

. Above the doorway was a rectangular panel, inscribed with the words "Corn Exchange" and the date of construction. The outer bays, which were blind, featured Tuscan order

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s at the corners. Internally, the principal room was the main hall, which was long and wide. The architectural historian,

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

, was unimpressed with the concept which he described as "a crude design based on giant Tuscan columns". 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. The building instead served as the venue for

petty session Courts of petty session, established from around the 1730s, were local courts consisting of magistrates, held for each petty sessional division (usually based on the county divisions known as hundreds) in England, Wales, and Ireland. The session ...

hearings, and as a venue for public events including dances, regimental balls and

roller skating Roller skating is the act of travelling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreation, recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on s ...

events. In the early 1990s, the corn exchange closed and, after the fabric of the building began to deteriorate, it was put on the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

. The Canadian actor,

Bradley Lavelle Bradley Lavelle (31 March 1958 – 22 March 2007) was a British-based Canadian actor. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Lavelle appeared in such films as '' Hellbound: Hellraiser II'', ''Nightbreed'' and '' Memphis Belle''. He played a young America ...

, acquired the building and, in 2004, initiated a major programme of refurbishment works to convert it into a shopping venue with restaurant, wine bar, and delicatessen known as Xchange. The business was not financially successful and, after it closed in July 2005, the building was sold in 2007. The building re-opened as a vintage and antiques emporium under new management in August 2013, but, after the business again faced financial difficulties, it changed hands in 2022. In the context of the

cost-of-living crisis A cost-of-living crisis refers to a socioeconomic situation or period of high inflation where nominal wages have stagnated while there is a sharp increase in the cost of basic goods, such as food, housing, and energy. As a result, living standar ...

, the new owner closed it again in June 2023.

References

{{reflist Commercial buildings completed in 1849 Harleston, Norfolk Grade II listed buildings in Norfolk Harleston

History

See also

References