Former Corn Exchange

Summary

Former corn exchange, constructed in 1847-1848 to designs by W A Nicholson and significantly extended in 1878-80 to designs by Bellamy & Hardy, now shops and a café.

History

Lincoln High Street is part of the major Roman road, Ermine Street, linking London to York. It has served as the principal route into the city from the south since the first century when a legionary fortress was established on what is now ‘Uphill’ Lincoln (the vicinity of the cathedral and castle). The fortress was later transformed into a civilian settlement, taking the name Colonia Lindum, from which its modern name is derived. The Roman town gradually expanded south along Ermine Street beyond the River Witham. This development pattern was largely re-established after the Vikings resettled the city during the C9. By the time of the Norman Conquest, both sides of Ermine Street appear to have been developed for some distance south of the river, but as late as the C18, development to the east and west of the High Street was mostly limited to the areas of the castle and cathedral in ‘Uphill’ Lincoln and along the riverfront in ‘Downhill’ Lincoln. The land south of the River Witham witnessed considerable industrial and commercial growth during the late C18 and C19. The land to the east and west of the High Street was transformed into a network of workshops, factories and yards, a trend reinforced by the arrival of the Midland Railway in 1846, followed by the Great Northern Railway in 1848, which transformed a large swathe of the area into a complex of railway buildings, storehouses and sidings. The High Street witnessed gradual redevelopment throughout this period, creating the largely C19 streetscape seen today, although a significant number of pre-industrial buildings have survived, often hidden behind later facades.

Lincoln’s first Corn Exchange was constructed between 1847 and 1848 to the designs of local architect, William Adams Nicholson (1803-1853), and funded by the Lincoln Corn Exchange and Market Company (LCEMC). It was designed in a Neoclassical style on a square plan, with a Corinthian portico in ashlar limestone overlooking the market square of Cornhill to the west. In 1878-79, the LCEMC constructed a new corn exchange to the south of Nicholson’s (demolished in the late C20), which had been deemed too small. Concurrently, a large extension in gault brick with ashlar dressings was added to the old corn exchange, designed by the local architectural practise, Bellamy & Hardy. At this time the old corn exchange was converted into a shopping arcade and renamed the Exchange Arcade. Internal alterations were undertaken within the Exchange Arcade sometime between 1938 and 1967, with the layout of the arcade shop units significantly changed. Sometime during the late C20, the internal layout was changed once more, with two larger retail units being established, one occupying the ground floor of the 1840s western range and the other occupying the 1870s eastern range, with a café on the first floor of the eastern range. William Adams Nicholson was born in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, in 1803, the son of a carpenter and joiner. He was articled to John Buonarotti Papworth in 1821 and by 1828 he had established himself in independent practice in Lincoln. In 1837, he joined the Royal Institute of British Architects as a founding fellow. Between 1839 and 1846 he was in partnership with Henry Goddard (1813-1899), practising as Nicholson & Goddard. Nicholson established a successful practice with a diverse and extensive portfolio of high-profile commissions across Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. Practising in both the Gothic Revival and Neoclassical styles, his work included numerous churches, country houses and public buildings. Nicholson died in 1853 in Boston, Lincolnshire, and is buried in the churchyard of St Swithin, Lincoln.

Details

Former corn exchange, constructed in 1847-8 to designs by W A Nicholson and significantly extended in 1878-1880 to designs by Bellamy & Hardy, now shops and a café.

MATERIALS: the building is constructed of ashlar limestone and gault brick with timber and glazed shop fronts and a slate roof covering.

PLAN: rectangular on plan with an apsidal east elevation.

EXTERIOR: the building comprises two distinct ranges: the original, taller range to the west and a later, lower range adjoining to the east. The west range, which now (2021) contains a bank on the ground floor and offices above is principally of two tall storeys, with a three-storey element to the west elevation. It is arranged on a square plan with the principal, west elevation arranged across five bays and the north and south flanking walls arranged across three wider bays. The principal, western elevation is faced in ashlar limestone, rusticated on the ground floor. The three central bays of the principal elevation project to form a four-columned, Corinthian portico under a modillioned pediment rising from a ground-floor base with three round-arched openings, now containing fixed shop windows. A balustrade runs between the lower parts of the columns on the first floor. There are three, tall, six-over-six sash windows within plain surrounds at first-floor level beneath the portico, and a set of three, three-over-three sash windows above with a string course running between the floors. The portico is flanked by a single bay to the north and south. These bays contain a flat-headed opening on the ground floor, the northernmost bay contains a doorway and the southernmost bay is a glazed shop window. At first-floor level, the outermost bays contain a six-over-six sash window within a moulded architrave with a cornice supported on consoles, flanked by a pair of Corinthian pilasters.

The north and south flank walls of the principal (west) elevation are of largely matching design. There are timber shopfronts within the channelled ashlar ground floor (two on the north elevation and one on the south), and a single, six-over-six sash window on the south elevation. The first floor is of Gault brick with pairs of ashlar Corinthian pilasters at either end of each elevation and an ashlar modillioned cornice above. On each elevation there are three six-over-six sash windows within moulded ashlar surrounds with bracketed cornices. The later east range currently contains a shop on the ground floor and a café on the first floor. It is of two storeys, the upper storey being lower than the corresponding storey of the west range. The north and south elevations are of five equal bays while the east elevation is also of five bays, with three of the bays within a semi-circular bull nose element and two narrower outer bays, curved at a shallower angle, linking the bull nose with the north and south elevations. With the exception of the two narrower linking bays, each bay is of a uniform design across all three elevations. The ground floor is of channelled render painted beige, and contains a tripartite, timber shopfront, with a painted, rendered cornice running the length of all three elevations. The first floor is of Gault brickwork with a tripartite, ashlar mullion window containing a combination of fixed and casement timber windows. An ashlar cornice and tall, Gault brick parapet runs across the top of all three elevations. The two narrower, linking bays contain a timber shopfront on the ground floor and a single, timber casement window on the first floor. The roof form of the east range, hidden by the parapet, comprises a single pitch angled away from the parapet with a flat central area.

Listing NGR: SK9756871040

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

485946

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Harris, J, Antram, N, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, (1989), 523

Other
Padley, J S, Map of Lincoln (1842), accessed 8 February 2021 at [http://www.heritageconnectlincoln.com/character-area/high-street/104/maps-and-photos?tab=map]
OS 1:500 Town Plan of Lincoln (surveyed 1888), accessed 22 January 2021 at [https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/497563/371042/13/100257]
OS 25” Lincolnshire LXX.7 (Canwick; Lincoln) (revised 1904-05, published 1907), accessed 22 January 2021 at [https://maps.nls.uk/view/114649050]
OS 25” Lincolnshire LXX.7 (Canwick; Lincoln) (revised 1930, published 1932), accessed 22 January 2021 at [https://maps.nls.uk/view/114649053]
OS 1:1250 Map of Lincoln (surveyed 1967), accessed 22 January 2021 at [https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/497563/371042/13/101329]

End of official list entry

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