Nottingham Exchange

Nottingham Exchange

Market Place, Nottingham with the Exchange in the background
Location within Nottinghamshire
General information
Location Old Market Square
Town or city Nottingham
Country England
Coordinates 52°57′08″N 1°08′52″W / 52.952162°N 1.147844°W / 52.952162; -1.147844
Construction started 1724
Completed 1726
Demolished 1926
Cost £2,400
Client Nottingham Corporation
Design and construction
Architect Marmaduke Pennell

Nottingham Exchange was built in the Market Place in Nottingham between 1724 and 1726 as the main offices of the Nottingham Corporation.

History

The Nottingham Exchange was erected between 1724 and 1726 replacing a shambles of buildings on the same site. It cost £2,400 (£310,887 in 2016) [1] and comprised a four-storey, eleven bay frontage 123 feet (37 m) long.[2] The architect was the mayor, Marmaduke Pennell.[3] The corporation offices moved here from Nottingham Guild Hall.

Clock by James Woolley of 1726, moved to St Nicholas' Church, Nottingham in 1830 and now in Nottingham Industrial Museum

.

A clock was presented for the Exchange by 1728 by the famous clock builder James Woolley of Codnor, and in return he was made a Burgess of Nottingham.[4]

The building was reconstructed between 1814 and 1815 at a cost of £14,000[5] (£926,135 in 2016).[1] This moved the main staircase from the front to the side, and gave better access to the Great Hall which was 75 feet (23 m) by 30 feet (9.1 m). The Great Hall was used for concerts, elections, balls, meetings and exhibitions.

In 1830, John Whitehurst and Son of Derby provided a new clock for the Exchange at a cost of £100 (£7,997 in 2016).[1] (The old clock was acquired by St Nicholas' Church, Nottingham and the dial from this clock is still in situ on the church tower.)

On 19 September 1836 a new dial was added to the clock by Shepperley for £46 (£3,867 in 2016)[1] and this was illuminated by a gas jet. On 26 November 1836 a fire broke out and considerable damage was caused to the building.

The Exchange was demolished in 1926 to make way for the current Nottingham Council House which occupies the same site.

Nottingham Time Ball

In 1876 a Greenwich time ball apparatus was fixed to the Smithy-row corner of the parapet of the Nottingham Exchange. It started operation on 11 September 1876.[6] and was installed by the Corporation to indicate Greenwich Mean Time to assist with the regulation of public clocks. Operated by electrical control, the ball dropped from top to bottom of a short staff at 1pm each day.

It was removed in 1886. Its use was probably discontinued because the installation had lost both its novelty and usefulness through the more general availability of Greenwich time, and the greater accuracy of public clocks.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2015), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.
  2. ↑ Allen's Illustrated hand book and guide to Nottingham. Richard Allen. Nottingham. 1866
  3. ↑ Old and New Nottingham. William Howie Wylie. 1853
  4. ↑ Clock and Watch Makers of Nottinghamshire. Harold H. Mather. Friends of Nottingham Museums. 1979
  5. ↑ A centenary History of Nottingham. John Beckett. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719040019
  6. ↑ Nottinghamshire Guardian. 15 September 1876
  7. ↑ Nottingham Evening Post. 6 January 1933
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