The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in King Street in Ipswich,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, England. The structure, which is currently used as a public events venue, is Grade II listed building.

History

Until the early 19th century, corn merchants in the town traded in the open at stalls on the Cornhill. In 1793, some merchants relocated to The Rotunda, a building designed by George Gooding and modelled on the Halle aux blés in Paris. However, in the around 1810, Ipswich Borough Council decided to commission a purpose-built structure in the southeast corner of Cornhill. It was designed in the neoclassical style, built in

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

stone at a cost of £33,000 and was completed in March 1812. It was originally open behind the façade, although a glass roof was added in 1849. In the late 1860s, Ipswich Borough Council decided to commission a more substantial structure: the site they selected was on the north side of King Street. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by mayor, David Henry Booth, on 22 October 1880. It was designed by Brightwen Binyon in the

Renaissance Revival style Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...

, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £25,000 and was officially opened by the then-mayor, Frederick Fish, on 26 July 1882. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of nine bays facing onto King Street with the end bays slightly projected forward. The central section of three bays, which was also slightly projected forward, was fenestrated by a central tripartite window flanked by single

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...

s with

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

s on the ground floor, a central

Diocletian window Diocletian windows, also called thermal windows, are large semicircular windows characteristic of the enormous public baths (''thermae'') of Ancient Rome. They have been revived on a limited basis by some classical revivalist architects in more m ...

flanked by segmental headed windows with architraves and

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

columns on the first floor, and a pair of round headed windows with Corinthian order columns flanked by single round headed windows also with Corinthian order columns on the second floor. The bays were flanked by full-height pilasters supporting a

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translated as small teeth). All ...

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

. The wing sections of two bays each featured wide openings separated by Corinthian order pilasters on the ground floor and balustraded parapets placed in front of recessed blind walls on the first floor. The end bays were fenestrated in a similar manner to the central section. Above the cornice the central section and end bays featured

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 and

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

s. Internally, the principal room was a Grand Hall. 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 public events venue: early speakers included the

President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. This is a committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centu ...

, Joseph Chamberlain, in January 1885. Following a major programme of restoration works costing £800,000, the building was re-opened by Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester on 22 September 1975. The building hosted the '' Antiques Roadshow'' in March 1986, and the

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

, '' Blur'', in June 1991. It was also the venue for the political debate programme, '' Question Time'', in May 2013 and, again, in May 2016.

References

{{reflist Commercial buildings completed in 1882 Grade II listed buildings in Ipswich Corn exchanges in England

History

See also

References