Corn Exchange, Liverpool
| Corn Exchange, Liverpool | |
|---|---|
 Corn Exchange, Liverpool | |
| Location | Drury Lane, Liverpool |
| Coordinates | 53°24′20″N 2°59′32″W / 53.4055°N 2.9921°W |
| Built | 1959 |
| Architect | Harold Hinchcliffe Davies |
| Architectural style(s) | Modernist style |
  Shown in Merseyside | |
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in Drury Lane in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The structure has been converted into apartments and studios.
History[edit]
In the 18th century, the local corn merchants carried out their business in the open space in front of Liverpool Town Hall. However, in the early 19th century, a group of the merchants decided to form a company, to be known as the "Liverpool Corn Exchange Limited", to finance and commission a purpose-built corn exchange.[1]
The new building was designed by John Foster, junior in the neoclassical style, built in white stone from Runcorn at a cost of £10,000 and was officially opened in August 1808.[2][3] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of four bays facing onto Brunswick Street. The central section of two bays featured two large openings while the outer bays contained round headed doorways with fanlights. The bays were all flanked by Doric order columns, which supported an entablature, which was decorated with triglyphs, as well as a central panel inscribed with the words "Corn Exchange". The first floor was fenestrated by sash windows with triangular pediments.[4]
There was a serious accident in June 1852, when the floor in the middle of the building gave way.[5] Following the accident, the corn exchange was rebuilt to a design by Sir James Picton between 1853 and 1854.[4] 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.[6]
After the First World War, a plaque to commemorate the lives of members of the Liverpool Corn Exchange who had died in the war was installed in the Church of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Chapel Street.[7] The corn exchange was completely destroyed by German bombing in the Liverpool Blitz in May 1941 during the Second World War.[8][9][10]
After the war, civic leaders decided to rebuild the structure again. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton, on 19 June 1953. In his speech, Woolton observed that "The history of the Liverpool Corn Exchange is the history of the corn trade of the United Kingdom. It is the history of adventure and enterprise that made Liverpool the largest market for foreign wheat in the World."[11] The new building was designed by Harold Hinchcliffe Davies in the modernist style, clad in Portland stone and completed in 1959.[12]
The design involved a three-storey podium on Drury Lane, which reduced to two storeys on Fenwick Street because of the sloping site, and a seven-storey tower, which rose above the podium. The main frontages of the tower, on Drury Lane and Fenwick Street, featured sections of three bays which were faced in alternating bands of glass and green faience panelling, flanked by sections which were canted and faced in Portland stone. Internally, the principal room was the main trading hall, which was located inside the podium.[13]
In the latter part of the 20th century, the building was largely used as offices. However, in March 2016, Liverpool City Council approved plans from a Dublin-based hotel developer, Staycity, to convert the building into some 200 new apartments and studios, all equipped with bedroom furniture, showers and fitted kitchens.[14] Staycity was granted a long-term lease on the building the following month.[15] After the conversion was completed, the building re-opened in October 2018.[16][17]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "No. 26912". The London Gazette. 19 November 1897. p. 6481.
- ^ Baines, Edward; Parson, William (1824). History, Directory, and Gazetteer, of the County Palatine of Lancaster With a Variety of Commercial & Statistical Information. Vol. 1. W. Wales and Company. p. 195.
- ^ The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal. Vol. 17. 1854. p. 25.
- ^ a b "Built on Commerce: Liverpool's central business district". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History and Politics of the Year. Vol. 94. F. and J. Rivington. 1853. p. 83.
- ^ Fletcher, T. W. (1973). 'The Great Depression of English Agriculture 1873-1896' in British Agriculture 1875-1914. London: Methuen. p. 31. ISBN 978-1136581182.
- ^ Maddocks, Graham (2008). Liverpool Pals 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th Service Battalions, The King's Liverpool Regiment 1914-1919. Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1473816015.
- ^ "Liverpool May Blitz: 12 sites that were bombed and how they look now". Liverpool Echo. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ "Liverpool 1941". North West Film Archive. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ "A Walk around Liverpool City centre in 1949". Old Liverpool. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ George Broomhall's Corn Trade News. Vol. 222. 1957. p. 118.
- ^ "Corn Exchange Building, Fenwick Street Liverpool". Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ Sharples, Joseph; Pollard, Richard (2004). Liverpool. Pevsner Architectural Guides. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0300102581.
- ^ "Liverpool Corn Exchange to be converted into an 'apart hotel'". Liverpool Echo. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ "Staycity signs new service apartments in the Corn Exchange, Liverpool". The Caterer. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ "Liverpool's historic Corn Exchange building is being transformed into a Staycity aparthotel". Liverpool Echo. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ "Staycity set to open in Liverpool's Corn Exchange next month". The Caterer. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2023.