Corn Exchange, Saffron Walden

The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in the Market Place in Saffron Walden, Essex, England. The structure, which is currently used as a library, is a Grade II listed building.[1]

Corn Exchange, Saffron Walden
Corn Exchange, Saffron Walden
LocationMarket Place, Saffron Walden
Coordinates52.0237°N 0.2408°E / 52.0237; 0.2408
Built1849
ArchitectRichard Tress
Architectural style(s)Italianate style
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameLibrary, Former Corn Exchange
Designated27 February 1969
Reference no.1297733
Corn Exchange, Saffron Walden is located in Essex
Corn Exchange, Saffron Walden
Shown in Essex

History

In the mid-1840s, a group of local businessmen decided to form a private company, known as the "Saffron Walden Corn Exchange Company", to finance and commission a corn exchange for the town.[2][3] The site they selected was occupied by a guildhall which had been used by the local wool-staplers.[4]

The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Wyatt George Gibson.[5] It was designed by Richard Tress in the Italianate style, built in brick with a stucco finish and was completed in February 1849.[6][7] The design involved a near symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto the Market Square. The central bay featured an elaborate portico formed by a tall round headed opening with an architrave and a keystone, flanked by pairs of Doric order columns supporting an entablature, a modillioned cornice and a parapet. The entablature was decorated by paired wreathes and the parapet was surmounted by paired acroteria. The outer bays contained doorways with fanlights flanked by pilasters supporting open pediments. At roof level, there was a three-stage clock tower with three louvres and corner volutes in the first stage, a clock supported by consoles in the second stage and a cylinder in the third stage, all surmounted by a dome and a weather vane. Internally, the principal room was the main hall.[1]

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] and it was acquired by Saffron Waldon Borough Council in 1882.[9] The building was subsequently used as an events venue and the future Chancellor of the Exchequer, Hugh Dalton, spoke at the corn exchange in support of the Labour Party candidate, Jimmy Mallon during the 1918 general election.[10] However, by the mid-1960s the building was in a very poor condition and "almost derelict".[9]

Saffron Waldon Borough Council sought long-term tenants for the building in 1969.[11] Essex County Council agreed to acquire the building in 1972 and commissioned an extensive programme of works to convert the building for use as a county library and arts centre:[12] the building was officially re-opened for that purpose on 11 June 1975.[9] The complex accommodates the "Gibson Library", a collection of 25,000 books assembled by the Saffron Walden Literary & Scientific Institution since it was founded in 1832.[13]

See also

References
  1. Historic England. "Library, Former Corn Exchange (1297733)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  2. "Saffron Walden Corn Exchange Company. Registered between 1844 and 1856, and either dissolved before 1856 or re-registered by 1860". National Archives. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  3. Accounts and Papers. Vol. 25. UK Parliament. 1849.
  4. "Safron Walden". The Recorders of Uttlesford History. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  5. "Saffron Walden: A history". Great British Life. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  6. Saffron Walden Corn Exchange. Illustrated London News. 24 February 1849. p. 124.
  7. Bettley, James; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2007). Essex (Buildings of England Series). Yale University Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0300116144.
  8. Fletcher, T. W. (1973). 'The Great Depression of English Agriculture 1873-1896' in British Agriculture 1875-1914. London: Methuen. p. 31. ISBN 978-1136581182.
  9. "The Corn Exchange Saffron Walden" (PDF). Essex Society of Archaeology and History. 1975. p. 20. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  10. Pimlott, Ben (1986). The Political Diary of Hugh Dalton, 1918–40, 1945–60. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 978-0224019125.
  11. Saffron Walden Corn Exchange for Disposal by Tender. 1 April 1969. p. 357. Saffron Walden Corn Exchange for Disposal by Tender The Corn Exchange, Saffron Walden, Essex, suitable for shop or commercial development purposes, is to be let by tender on a 99-year lease by Messrs Jennings (Cross Street, Saffron Walden) on instructions from Saffron Waldon Borough Council {{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help)
  12. "The refurbishment in 1972". The Gibson Library. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  13. "Introduction". The Gibson Library. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
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