| Corn Hall, Diss | |
|---|---|
 Corn Hall, Diss | |
| Location | St Nicholas Street, Diss |
| Coordinates | 52°22′39″N1°06′26″E / 52.3776°N 1.1072°E |
| Built | 1854 |
| Architect | George Atkins |
| Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical style |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | Corn Hall |
| Designated | 8 June 1972 |
| Reference no. | 1083969 |
  Shown in Norfolk | |
The Corn Hall is a commercial building in St Nicholas Street, Diss, Norfolk, England. The structure, which is now used as an arts centre, is a Grade II listed building. [1]
The building was commissioned by the lord of the manor, Thomas Lombe Taylor, whose seat was at Starston Place in Starston. The site he selected was on the north side of St Nicholas Street. [2] It was designed by a local architect, George Atkins, in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £10,000 and was completed in 1854. [3]
The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto St Nicholas Street. The central bay featured a tetrastyle portico formed by four Ionic order columns supporting a modillioned pediment. At the back of the portico there was a doorway with an architrave and brackets supporting a cornice. The outer bays were decorated by blind windows with window sills and brackets supporting pediments. Internally, the principal rooms were the main hall, which was 77 feet (23 m) long and 42 feet (13 m) wide, and a library with between 2,000 and 3,000 volumes. [4] The official opening was celebrated by a concert performed by an orchestra of between 80 and 90 local people, with all the money raised being donated to the Patriotic Fund. [5]
The architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner, was impressed by the design and remarked on the "remarkably civilised facade" and comment that "the effect...[of this]...is striking". [6] Shortly after it opened, the building also became the venue for the local petty sessions. [7] 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. [8] Instead, it became a community events venue hosting dances, whist drives and bridge drives. [9]
The owners of the building, Diss Town Council, transferred the responsibility for the management of the building to the Diss Corn Hall Trust when the trust was formed in July 2009. [10] [11] An extensive programme of refurbishment works, involving the conversion of the building into an arts centre to a design by Hudson Architects, [12] commenced in January 2016. [13] Following completion of the works, which were undertaken at a cost of £1.7 million with financial support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, [14] the new arts centre was opened by the mayor, Mike Barwell, on 5 May 2017. [15]
Works of art in the building include a portrait by the English portrait painter, Sir William Boxall, of the benefactor, Thomas Lombe Taylor. [16]
The Leeds Corn Exchange is a shopping mall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is a grade I listed building.
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 Earl 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.
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Bethesda Methodist Chapel is a disused Methodist chapel, in Hanley, Staffordshire, England. One of the largest Nonconformist chapels outside London, the building has been known as the "Cathedral of the Potteries", being "one of the largest and most ornate Methodist town chapels surviving in the UK".
Ince Blundell Hall is a former country house near the village of Ince Blundell, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. It was built between 1720 and 1750 for Robert Blundell, the lord of the manor, and was designed by Henry Sephton, a local mason-architect. Robert's son, Henry, was a collector of paintings and antiquities, and he built impressive structures in the grounds of the hall in which to house them. In the 19th century the estate passed to the Weld family. Thomas Weld Blundell modernised and expanded the house, and built an adjoining chapel. In the 1960s the house and estate were sold again, and have since been run as a nursing home by the Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus.
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.
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The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in Queen Street, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, England. The structure, which is used as the offices of a firm of charted surveyors, is a Grade II listed building.
Tunsgate is a neoclassical style building in Guildford, Surrey, England. The structure, which was originally a corn exchange and now forms the entrance to a shopping centre, is a Grade II listed building.
The Corn Hall is a commercial building in the Market Place, Swaffham, Norfolk, England. The structure, which is used as offices and as a coffee house, is a Grade II listed building.
Westgate Hall is a commercial building in Westgate, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. The structure, which was last used as a nightclub, is a Grade II listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in Sincil Street, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. The structure, which is now used as a restaurant and shops, is a Grade II listed building.
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in Exchange Street in Harleston, Norfolk, England. The structure, which used as a vintage and antiques emporium until June 2023, is a Grade II listed building.