Corn Exchange, Hertford

Corn Exchange, Hertford
Corn Exchange, Hertford
Location	Fore Street, Hertford
Coordinates	51°47′47″N0°04′35″W / 51.7965°N 0.0764°W / 51.7965; -0.0764
Built	1859
Architect	William Hill
Architectural style(s)	Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Former Corn Exchange and Public Hall
Designated	12 April 1973
Reference no.	1268936
Shown in Hertfordshire

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. ^[1]

History

The site currently occupied by the corn exchange on the north side of Fore Street originally accommodated a gaol which dated from around 1702 and which had been demolished in 1777 to make way for a butchers' market. ^{[2] [3]} Corn merchants traded in corn behind the Shire Hall until the first purpose-built corn exchange was erected immediately to the west of the Cross Keys Inn on Fore Street in the 1840s. ^[4]

In the mid-19th century, civic leaders decided that the original structure was inadequate and should be replaced with a new structure. The new building was designed by William Hill of Leeds in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1859. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto Fore Street. On the ground floor, the central bay contained a panelled doorway while the outer bays contained tri-partite windows where the parts were separated by antae. The first floor was fenestrated by three round headed windows with architraves and keystones, each with an inner window, where the parts were also separated by antae. The bays were flanked by Corinthian order pilasters which supported an entablature and a pediment. The entablature was inscribed with the words "Corn Exchange and Public Hall", while the pediment containing a circular panel bearing a carving of a hart in the tympanum. Internally, the principal room was the main hall which was intended to serve as a library when not in use for corn trading. ^[5] The architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner, described the design as "like that of an ambitious methodist chapel". ^[6]

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. ^[7] In August 1914, at the start of the First World War, recruits for the 4th (Militia) battalion, The Bedfordshire Regiment were billeted in the building. ^[8] At the apex of the pediment there was originally a statue of the Roman goddess of agriculture, Ceres, but this was removed during the Second World War to prevent it causing injury to passers-by during German bombing. ^[1]

The use of the building as a public events venue continued and performers who hosted vents in the corn hall included the rock band, The Who , in March 1965, ^[9] and the rock band, The Kinks , in June 1966. ^[10] In May 1979, East Hertfordshire District Council gave planning consent to convert the ground floor of the building, on the Market Street elevation, into shops while retaining the first floor for use as a public hall. ^[11] The building was acquired by the concert promoter, Chris Addison, in 2008. ^{[12] [13]}

See also

• Corn exchanges in England

References

1. Historic England. "Former Corn Exchange and Public Hall (1268936)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 1 May 2023.
2. "Hertford's Gaol". Discover Hertford. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
3. Williams, S. "Daring Escape from Hertford Gaol". Hertfordshire County Council. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
4. "Timeline". Discover Hertford. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
5. The British Almanac of the Society for the Diffusion of Natural Knowledge. 1859. p. 248.
6. Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (2002). Hertfordshire (Buildings of England Series). Yale University Press. p. 186. ISBN   978-0300096118.
7. Fletcher, T. W. (1973). 'The Great Depression of English Agriculture 1873-1896' in British Agriculture 1875-1914. London: Methuen. p. 31. ISBN   978-1136581182.
8. Cordingley, Geoffrey; Ayto, Jennifer. "Hertford in August 1914". Hertfordshire County Council. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
9. Neill, Andrew; Kent, Matthew (2009). Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of the WHO 1958–1978. Sterling Publishing Company. p. 303. ISBN   978-1402766916.
10. "The legendary The Who and The Kinks gigs played at Hertford Corn Exchange over the years". The Hertfordshire Mercury. 19 June 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
11. "Corn Exchange Plan Agreed". The Hertfordshire Mercury. 25 May 1979. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
12. "Hertford to the Fore – meet the ambitious people of Fore Street in our county town". Great British Life. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
13. "Chart-toppers to play new Enfield music festival". Enfield Independent. 14 August 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2023.