Market Cross, Bury St Edmunds

Last updated

Market Cross, Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds - panoramio (12).jpg
Market Cross, Bury St Edmunds
LocationCornhill, Bury St Edmunds
Coordinates 52°14′45″N0°42′44″E / 52.2458°N 0.7121°E / 52.2458; 0.7121 Coordinates: 52°14′45″N0°42′44″E / 52.2458°N 0.7121°E / 52.2458; 0.7121
Built1780
Architect Robert Adam
Architectural style(s) Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade I
Official nameMarket Cross
Designated7 August 1952
Reference no.1076930
Suffolk UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Suffolk

The Market Cross, also known as Bury St Edmunds Town Hall, is a municipal building in Cornhill in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The building, which is currently used as a community space, is a Grade I listed building. [1]

Contents

History

The site of the current building was originally occupied by a simple market cross in the form of a high cross. It was dismantled and replaced by a timber structure which was commissioned by the Bury St Edmunds Guildhall feoffees and completed in 1584. It accommodated an open corn market on the ground floor, and a clothiers' hall on the first floor. It was destroyed in a great fire which broke out in Eastman Street in 1608 but was rebuilt in 1620. [2] It was described as a "very fayer large house for corn sellers wherein they may stand in their great ease very comodiouslye in the heat of somer and also in the tyme of reyne and cold wet winter". [3]

In 1734, the building was converted for use as a theatre which became known as "The Grand Theatre". In The Grubstreet Journal of 19 September 1734, it was written "Our workmen are very near drawing to a conclusion the finishing The Grand Theatre, which has been so long fitting up here, for his Grace the Duke of Grafton's Company of Comedians, and when the paintings and everything are completed, it is believed it will equal (if not exceed) any in England, and none can be supposed to come near it for situation; the company are to come from the University of Cambridge, to open at the beginning of our next fair." [4]

In the early 1770s, civic officials decided that the Market Cross should be rebuilt. The new structure was designed by Robert Adam in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1780. [5] It was laid out to a cruciform plan. The ground floor was rusticated with round headed openings on all four elevations, and, on the first floor there were Venetian windows flanked by Ionic order columns supporting friezes and pediments on all four elevations. The windows were flanked by niches containing Etruscan style ornaments and, above the niches, there were panels containing swags and paterae. Internally, the principal room was the assembly hall on the first floor. [1]

The theatre continued to prosper, especially during the Napoleonic Wars, and included productions such as William Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear . [6] However, it ceased to operate when the new Theatre Royal, designed by William Wilkins, opened in Westgate Street in 1819. [7] At that time the assembly room on the first floor of the Market Cross was re-purposed as a concert hall. [8] The building became the meeting place of Bury St Edmunds Borough Council in 1840 and served as "Bury St Edmunds Town Hall" until the new borough offices on Angel Hill, designed by Basil Oliver and William Henry Mitchell, opened in April 1937. [9]

In 1972, the building became an art gallery hosting a programme of changing contemporary art and craft exhibitions and events by British and international artists. However, after getting into financial difficulty, the gallery, which was latterly known as "Smiths Row", closed in November 2015. [10] After six years of standing vacant, it re-opened as a community space in May 2021. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwich</span> Human settlement in England

Greenwich is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bury St Edmunds</span> Town in Suffolk, England

Bury St Edmunds, commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market and cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. The picturesque Bury St Edmunds Abbey is near the town centre. Bury is the seat of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich of the Church of England, with the episcopal see at St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Opera House</span> Performing arts venue in London, England

The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel, began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stowmarket</span> Human settlement in England

Stowmarket is a market town in Suffolk, England, on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edmunds to the west and Ipswich to the southeast. The town is on the main railway line between London and Norwich, and lies on the River Gipping, which is joined by its tributary, the River Rat, to the south of the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bury St Edmunds Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery in England

The Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England, until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. It is in the town that grew up around it, Bury St Edmunds in the county of Suffolk, England. It was a centre of pilgrimage as the burial place of the Anglo-Saxon martyr-king Saint Edmund, killed by the Great Heathen Army of Danes in 869. The ruins of the abbey church and most other buildings are merely rubble cores, but two very large medieval gatehouses survive, as well as two secondary medieval churches built within the abbey complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke-by-Nayland</span> Human settlement in England

Stoke-by-Nayland is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England, close to the border with Essex. The parish includes the village of Withermarsh Green and the hamlets of Thorington Street and Scotland Street. The village has many cottages and timber-framed houses and all surround a recreation field. Possibly once the site of a monastery, the population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 703, falling to 682 at the Census 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Edmundsbury Cathedral</span> Church in Suffolk, United Kingdom

St Edmundsbury Cathedral is the cathedral for the Church of England's Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It is the seat of the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and is in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. Originating in the 11th century, it was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries as a parish church and became a cathedral in 1914; it has been considerably enlarged in recent decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loughborough Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England

The Loughborough Town Hall is a building fronting onto the Market Place in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. Built as a corn exchange and ballroom in 1855, it became a municipal building and subsequently a theatre. It is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedford Corn Exchange</span> Municipal building in Bedford, England

The Corn Exchange is an events and concert venue located on St Paul's Square in the Castle area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. The building, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevington, Suffolk</span> Human settlement in England

Chevington is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in East Anglia, England. Located around 10 km south-west of Bury St Edmunds, in 2005 its population was 630, reducing to 602 at the 2011 Census. The parish also contains the hamlets of Broad Green and Tan Office Green.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford</span> Church in Long Melford, England

The Church of the Holy Trinity is a Grade I listed parish church of the Church of England in Long Melford, Suffolk, England. It is one of 310 medieval English churches dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corn exchanges in England</span> Commodity trading halls in Great Britain

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shire Hall Complex, Bury St Edmunds</span> County building in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England

The Shire Hall Complex is a group of municipal buildings in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The complex, which was the headquarters of West Suffolk County Council until its abolition in 1974, is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lowestoft Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England

Lowestoft Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. The town hall, which was the meeting place of Lowestoft Council, is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisbech Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England

Wisbech Town Hall is an historic building on North Brink, Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The building incorporates the offices, council chamber and mayor's parlour of Wisbech Town Council, and is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beccles Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Beccles, Suffolk, England

Beccles Town Hall is a municipal structure in New Market, Beccles, Suffolk, England. The structure, which accommodates the offices and meeting place of Beccles Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doncaster Corn Exchange</span> Municipal building in Doncaster, England

The Corn Exchange is a trading space and events venue in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The building, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is part of a Grade II* listed complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwold Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Southwold, Suffolk, England

Southwold Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place in Southwold, Suffolk, England. The building, which is the meeting place of Southwold Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shire Hall, Woodbridge</span> County building in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England

The Shire Hall is a municipal building in Market Hill in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. The structure, which is the meeting place of Woodbridge Town Council, is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corn Exchange, Bury St Edmunds</span> Municipal building in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England

The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in Abbeygate Street in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The building, which is currently used as a public house, is a Grade II listed building.

References

  1. 1 2 Historic England. "Market Cross (1076930)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  2. ↑ Tymms, Samuel (1859). A Hand Book of Bury St. Edmunds, in the County of Suffolk. F. Lancaster. p. 55.
  3. ↑ Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Art Gallery: 25 Years at The Market Cross. 1997.
  4. ↑ The Pennsylvania Gazette. Vol. 3. 1968. p. 11.
  5. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Radcliffe, Enid (1974). Suffolk (Buildings of England Series). Yale University Press. p. 146. ISBN   978-0300096484.
  6. ↑ "The Oakes Diaries: Business, Politics and The Family in Bury St Edmunds 1778–1827" (PDF). Suffolk Records Society. 1791. p. 274.
  7. ↑ "Our History". Theatre Royal. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  8. ↑ Stratham, Margaret (1988). The Book of Bury St Edmunds. Barracuda Books. p. 104. ISBN   978-0860234050.
  9. ↑ "Borough Offices, Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk". Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Smiths Row arts organisation announces its closure". Suffolk News. 9 June 2018. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  11. ↑ "Finishing touches falling into place as Market Cross Community of Creatives, in Bury St Edmunds, prepares to open". Suffolk News. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.