Albert Hall, Colchester | |
---|---|
Location | High Street, Colchester |
Coordinates | 51°53′23″N0°53′50″E / 51.8898°N 0.8971°E |
Built | 1845 |
Architect | Raphael Brandon |
Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical style |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | The Albert Hall |
Designated | 2 December 1971 |
Reference no. | 1337737 |
The Albert Hall is a commercial building in the High Street, Colchester, Essex, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange and is now used as a bank, is a Grade II listed building. [1]
The first corn exchange in the town was designed by David Laing and was erected at the west end of the High Street in 1820. [2] In the early 1840s, civic officials decided that the old corn exchange was inadequate and should be replaced by a new structure on an adjacent site to the east of the old building. [lower-alpha 1]
The current building was designed by Raphael Brandon in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1845. [3] [4] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto the High Street. The central section of three bays, which was recessed, featured three round headed openings separated by Ionic order columns supporting a frieze, an entablature, a modillioned cornice and a parapet. The outer bays featured niches containing life-size figures depicting agricultural workers and were flanked by Doric order pilasters. A statue of the goddess, Ceres, was initially placed at the centre of the parapet but the stone quickly became eroded and the statue was removed. [5]
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] It closed as a corn exchange in 1884 and re-opened the following year as the Albert School of Art and Science. The life-size figures of agricultural workers were removed from the niches and were subsequently displayed outside a car park on Balkerne Hill. The building was requisitioned for use as a food control office i.e. rationing centre during the First World War and then re-opened as an events venue with a stage and gallery in 1926. [3]
The building also operated as a cinema in the 1930s, [7] and continued to host public events after the Second World War: performers included the rock band, The Who , in August 1965. [8] [9] [10] It closed as an events venue in 1972, [11] and served as a stationary shop, operated by Cullingford and Company, into the late-1970s. After a major programme of refurbishment works in the 1980s, the building re-opened as a branch of The Co-operative Bank and as the local office of General Accident in 1991. [3]
The Corn Exchange is an events and concert venue located on Wheeler Street in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is a Grade II listed building.
The Hazlitt Theatre and Exchange Studio, also known as the Hazlitt Arts Centre, is a theatre complex in Earle Street in Maidstone, Kent, England. The oldest part of the complex, which is now used as a shopping complex on the ground floor, and as a theatre venue known as the "Exchange Studio" on the first floor, is a Grade II listed building.
The Corn Exchange is an events and concert venue located on St Paul's Square in the Castle area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is a Grade II listed building.
Leicester Corn Exchange is a commercial building in the Market Place in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. The structure, which currently operates as a public house, is a grade II* listed building.
The Palace Theatre & Grand Hall Complex is a multi-purpose entertainment arena complex in Green Street, Kilmarnock, Scotland. The structure, which was originally opened as a corn exchange, is a Category A listed building.
The Edinburgh Corn Exchange is an events and concert venue located in New Market Road in Edinburgh, Scotland. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is a Category B listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building on The Payment in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The structure, which is currently used as an events venue, is a Grade II listed building.
Corn exchanges are distinct buildings which were originally created as a venue for corn merchants to meet and arrange pricing with farmers for the sale of wheat, barley, and other corn crops. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley. With the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, a large number of corn exchanges were built in England, particularly in the corn-growing areas of Eastern England.
Aylesbury Town Hall is a name which has been used for two different buildings in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. Since 2007 the name has been used for an office building at 5 Church Street, which serves as the headquarters of Aylesbury Town Council. The name was also formerly used for a complex of buildings which had been built in 1865 as a corn exchange in Market Square, and which served as the offices and meeting place of the local council from 1901 to 1968. The majority of the old town hall was demolished shortly afterwards, leaving only the entrance archway facing Market Square still standing, now called Town Hall Arches. This remaining part of the old town hall is a Grade II* listed building as part of the range of civic buildings on the southern side of Market Square including the old County Hall.
The Corn Exchange is a trading space and events venue in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is part of a Grade II* listed complex.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in King Street in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The structure, which is currently used as a public events venue, is Grade II listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in Abbeygate Street in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The structure, which is currently used as a public house, is a Grade II listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in the Market Place in Saffron Walden, Essex, England. The structure, which is currently used as a library, is a Grade II listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building on Fore Street in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England. The structure, which is currently used as an events venue, is a Grade II listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in Albert Street in Derby, Derbyshire, England. The structure, which is currently used as an indoor sports venue, is a Grade II listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a former commercial building in Preston, Lancashire, England, which was commissioned as a corn exchange and later used for 90 years as an assembly room and auditorium known as the Public Hall. Much of the structure was demolished in the late 1980s, but the main entrance building survives as a public house, and is a Grade II listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in the Market Place, Devizes, Wiltshire, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange and is now used as an events venue, is a Grade II listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in Tuesday Market Place, King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange and is now used as an events venue, is a Grade II listed building.
The Market House is a commercial building in Church Street in Camborne, Cornwall, England. The structure, which is currently used as a hotel and public house, is a Grade II listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in Gloucester Street in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, England. The structure, which is currently used as a community events venue, is a Grade II listed building.