The Exchange Arcade is a shopping mall on Cornhill in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, 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

Originally, the local corn merchants conducted their business in the open air on Cornhill. In the mid-1840s, after finding this arrangement inadequate, a group of local businessmen decided to form a private company, known as the "Lincoln Corn Exchange and Market Company", to finance and commission a

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 site they selected was undeveloped land to the east of the High Street. The foundation stone for the new building was laid on 1 September 1847. It was designed by

William Adams Nicholson William Adams Nicholson (8 August 1803 – 8 April 1853) was an English architect who worked in Lincoln, England, Lincoln and was a founding member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Life Born on 8 August 1803 at Southwell, Nottingha ...

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 by

Kirk and Parry Kirk and Parry were an architectural and civil engineering practice in Sleaford that specialised in the design of public buildings, housing and the construction of Railways. The practice was initially founded by Charles Kirk (senior) (1791–1 ...

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. On the edge of the The Fens, Fenlands, it is north-east of Grantham, west of Boston, Lincolnshire, Boston, and sou ...

at a cost of £15,000 and was officially opened on 31 March 1848.

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...

was an early visitor to the new building in April 1849. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Cornhill. The ground floor was rusticated and the central section of three bays, which was projected forward, formed a

podium A podium (: podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of a ...

containing three round headed openings supporting 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 ...

with

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

columns, with a large

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

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 ...

above. The outer bays were fenestrated on the first floor 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 with

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 ...

s supported by consoles and flanked by

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. In the 1870s, civic officials decided to commission a new corn exchange, later known as the Market Hall, which was erected on the corner of Cornhill and Sincil Street and opened in December 1879. Meanwhile, the old corn exchange was significantly extended to the east with a bullnose shaped extension designed by Bellamy and Hardy and converted into a shopping arcade known as the Exchange Arcade which opened in 1880. The building has been occupied by a large number of tenants since it became a shopping arcade. In the 1976, the basement area, which had originally been used as a grain store, was converted into a public house operated by

Ruddles Brewery Ruddles Brewery (G. Ruddle & Co) was a brewery in Rutland, England. The brand is now owned by Greene King who still brew beers under the Ruddles name in Suffolk, although the current recipes are not those used at the original brewery. The brewe ...

known as the Cornhill Vaults. At the east end the anchor store was occupied by the bookshop,

Waterstones Waterstones Booksellers Limited, trading as Waterstones (formerly Waterstone's), is a British bookselling, book retailer based in London, England, owned by the American investment group Elliott Investment Management. It operates 311 shops, ma ...

, from 2005 to 2021, when the unit was taken over by

Superdry Superdry plc (stylised as SUPERDRY®︎冒険魂) is a British clothing company, and owner of the Superdry label. Superdry products traditionally combine vintage Americana (culture), American styling with Japanese-inspired graphics. Founded ...

. Meanwhile, at the west end the main tenant has been

Santander Bank Santander Bank, N. A. () is an American bank operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Spanish Santander Group. It is based in Boston and its principal market is the northeastern United States. It has $57.5 billion in deposits, operates abou ...

since 2010.

References

{{reflist Commercial buildings completed in 1848 Grade II listed buildings in Lincolnshire Corn exchanges in England Buildings and structures in Lincoln, England

History

See also

References