The Exchange, Bristol

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The Exchange
The Exchange at dusk
Building Information
Location	Bristol
Country	England
Architect	John Wood the Elder
Construction Start Date	1741
Completion Date	1743

The Exchange (grid reference ST588730) is a Grade I listed building dating from the 18th Century in Bristol. It was previously used as a corn and general trade exchange, however is now used as offices and St Nicholas Market. It is on Corn Street, near the junction with Broad Street.

Contents 1 History 2 The Nails 3 Clock 4 References

[edit] History

The Exchange was built in 1741–43 by John Wood the Elder, with carvings by Thomas Paty.^[1]

Wood was also the architect of the Liverpool Exchange, which was completed in 1754 and gutted by fire in 1795. The London Exchange of Wood's day was also destroyed by fire in 1838. Bristol's Exchange is therefore unique, the only surviving 18th century Exchange building in England.^[1]

Today the Exchange is designated as Grade 1 listed building.^[2] Always owned by the City of Bristol, the building has served a variety of purposes, currently housing both offices of the former City Valuer's Department and market traders.^[1]

When finished in 1743 the Exchange, as planned, had “the outward appearance of one grand structure” and the much-admired exterior remains largely as built today.^[1]

Internally, however, it consisted of various spaces. On either side of the front entrance in Corn Street were a coffee house and tavern, each of four storeys. Above and below the main entrance were rooms designed as strong rooms. In the centre of the Exchange was an open court, surrounded by a colonnade. At the back of the building was a two storey range, consisting of an arcade on the ground floor and a long first-floor room. Facing All Saints Lane were two four storey houses for business or trades persons and on the frontage to Exchange Avenue were a further three houses. Below these various elements were cellars. Those below the five houses were each separate; the others were mostly interconnected.^[1]

In 1872 a major programme of building works was undertaken to a design by Edward Middleton Barry. This provided a roof over the central court of the Exchange and a new suite of offices on the first floor above the colonades around the court. Other internal alterations appear to have been made in the late 19th century, possibly also by Barry in 1872. This is uncertain as Barry's plans are yet to be found.^[1]

Further extensive alterations were made in the 1900s when the City Valuers Department moved to the Exchange in 1907. These included the provision of a lift from the basement and cellars to the first floor and major alterations to the cellars under the central part of the Exchange.^[1]

Since 1945 further alterations have included the replacement of the roof over the central court by a temporary roof at a lower level, the removal of the clock tower at the back of the building and the internal rebuilding of all four floors of the coffee house together with the corresponding floors over the main entrance.^[1]

Despite its name it was intended for merchants of all types and a number directly involved in the Guinea and West Indian slave trade used it for business transactions. Inside the Corn Exchange the plasterwork in the main hall represents the four corners of the world, including Africa and America, the latter wearing a head-dress of tobacco leaves. On the outside of the building are carvings of African, American, Asian and European figures and animals, again symbols of Bristol's foreign trade.^[3]

[edit] The Nails

Four brass tables are located outside the exchange on Corn Street, probably modelled after mobile tables which were taken to trade fairs and markets. Before the Corn Exchange was built in the 18th Century, the tables — called nails — were located in the Tolzey Walk. This covered area was along the south wall of All Saints Church, which remains as a narrow lane giving access to commercial premises.

The brass nails, with their flat tops and raised edges which prevent coins from tumbling onto the pavement, were made as convenient tables for merchants to carry out their business. The oldest pillar is undated, but experts say it is late Elizabethan. The second oldest was given by Bristol merchant Robert Kitchen, who died in 1594. The two remaining nails are dated 1625 and 1631.^[4]

The four nails were made at different times, and this is reflected in their varying designs. One of the nails bears the name John Barker on its rim. Barker was a wealthy merchant who owned houses and storehouses on the Quay, in Wine Street and in Small Street. He was Mayor during the reign of Charles I and represented Bristol in the 1623 Parliament.^[5]

Deals could be closed by payment on the nails — the popularly supposed origin of the saying ’pay on the nail’ or 'cash on the nail'.^[6][7] However, this origin of the term is disputed.^[8]

[edit] Clock

Before the arrival of the railways there was no practical way of communicating information about time over a distance. When the telegraph made such communication possible, it became necessary for people living in one area to agree that they would not keep their own local time, but would all keep a time based on the local standard meridian. Bristol is at 2º 35' West of Greenwich, so when it is noon in Bristol is just past 10 past noon (twelve) in London; therefore, the clock over the old Corn Exchange in Bristol has two minute hands. The black minute hand shows Greenwich Mean Time and the red minute hand shows Bristol time.^[9]

[edit] References

Coordinates: 51.45447° N 2.59434° W