The Corn Exchange is a commercial building on Market Hill in

Royston, Hertfordshire Royston is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Hertfordshire, District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England. It is situated on the Prime meridian (Greenwich), Greenwich Meridian, which brush ...

, England. The structure, which is now used as a series of retail units organised round a central courtyard, 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 early 19th century, market traders carried out their business in the open on Market Hill. When the weather was inclement, the traders invariably met in the yard of the Green Man Inn where there was "a large garden and stables and ten corn shops". After the manor of Royston was bequeathed to him in the late 18th century, the new

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

Thomas Brand, 20th Baron Dacre Thomas Brand, 20th Baron Dacre (25 March 1774 – 21 March 1851) was a British peer and Whig politician. Background Dacre was the eldest son of Thomas Brand, of The Hoo, Hertfordshire, and Gertrude, 19th Baroness Dacre, daughter of the Hon. Cha ...

, whose seat was at Kimpton Hoo, decided that this arrangement was unsatisfactory and 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 ...

for the town. The new building was designed in the vernacular style, built in moulded yellow bricks using a process patented by a Ware-based brick merchant, Caleb Hitch, and was completed in 1829. The design involved a long symmetrical main frontage facing onto Market Hill. At the centre of the main frontage, which was entirely un-fenestrated, was an opening with a wooden

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 ...

surmounted by a triangular pediment. The opening provided access to a series of single storey buildings organised in a square around a central courtyard. The buildings were fenestrated by

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 windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s and featured wide

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

, supported by

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

columns, and Welsh slate roofs. These single story buildings formed the only part of the market area which was permanently covered over. A large corn market was held in the corn exchange every Wednesday. However, 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 was also used as a venue for public events: the socialite,

Margot Asquith Emma Alice Margaret Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith (' Tennant; 2 February 1864 – 28 July 1945), known as Margot Asquith, was a British socialite and author. She was married to British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith from 1894 to his ...

, reported that in 1915, the

Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the governing party in the House of Lords who acts ...

Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (12 January 185820 June 1945), known as The Honourable Robert Milnes from 1863 to 1885, The Lord Houghton from 1885 to 1895 and as The Earl of Crewe from 1895 to 1911, was a British Lib ...

, gave a speech on land reform in the corn exchange. The complex was subsequently re-organised as a series of 23 small retail units with a

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

-type structure in the centre of the courtyard.

References

{{reflist Commercial buildings completed in 1829 Royston, Hertfordshire Grade II listed buildings in Hertfordshire Royston

History

See also

References