The Corn Exchange, formerly the Market Hall, is a commercial building in the Market Place,

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England. The structure, which accommodates a small shopping mall, a public library and an art gallery, 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

In the mid-19th century, a group of local businessmen decided to form a private company, known as the "Salisbury Railway and Market House Company", to finance and commission a purpose-built market hall for the town. The site they chose, on the west side of the Market Place, had been occupied by the Maidenhead Inn, and was enclosed at the back by the River Avon. In order to maximise use of the market hall, they decided to build a branch railway line between

Salisbury railway station Salisbury railway station serves the cathedral city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. It is from on the West of England line to . This is crossed by the Wessex Main Line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton Central. The station is ope ...

and the market hall. The scheme was authorised by the ( 19 & 20 Vict. c. xciii). The new building was designed by the chief engineer of the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exete ...

, John Strapp, 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 in

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

stone and was officially opened on 24 May 1859. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto the Market Place. The central bay featured a large round headed opening with

voussoir A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Acces ...

s, flanked by banded

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 supporting an

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

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

with a clock in the tympanum. The outer bays contained slightly smaller openings with voussoirs and

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 ...

gates made by Hill & Smith, flanked by pilasters supporting an entablature, 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 ...

and a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

. Internally, the principal room was the main hall. The 1st Corps, Wiltshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, part of the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a Social movement, popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increa ...

, used the market hall for drill practice after it was raised in 1860. The building was subsequently re-branded as the "Corn Exchange", although 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 branch railway line was not affected by the

nationalisation of British Railways Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

in 1948, but was closed, following the implementation of the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

, in 1964. The building continued to sell agricultural products, albeit in smaller volumes, until the site was sold to New Sarum City Council in 1969 by the (c. xviii), and then redeveloped in the early 1970s. The façade was retained and a small shopping mall known as the "Market Walk" was created through the left-hand opening. The central and right-hand bays were used to accommodate a public library and an art gallery, both of which relocated from buildings in Chipper Lane. The art gallery, known as the "Young Gallery", had been established to exhibit a collection of paintings assembled by a collector, Edwin Young, which had been donated to the city in 1912.

References

{{reflist Commercial buildings completed in 1859 Buildings and structures in Salisbury Grade II listed buildings in Wiltshire

History

See also

References