Former Corn Exchange And Public Hall

The former Corn Exchange and Public Hall, dated 1857-59 and designed by William Hill of Leeds, now incorporates ground floor shops fronting onto Market Street, with the original first-floor hall accessible from a Fore Street entrance. It is a building of group value, representing a significant contribution to the townscape.

The building has an ashlar front and a red brick flank elevation, topped with a Welsh slated and glazed roof. The front is two storeys with three bays, displaying a modified classical style, notable for its pediment and entablature surround. Giant modified Tuscan Doric pilasters are set on tall plinths, flanked by Corinthian pilasters. The first floor features arched windows, with an inner window separated from the outer by Tuscan antae, incorporating moulded extrados and a keyblock. Stone panels are positioned below the windows. The ground floor has triple windows separated by antae, flanking pilasters, and projecting panelled plinths. A central doorway contains a pair of tall, ten-panel doors. A fascia displays the inscription “Corn Exchange and Public Hall”. The pediment’s central circular panel depicts the Hertfordshire hart surrounded by sacks of corn, originally flanked by carved foliage that was removed during a mid-20th century refurbishment. Carved bases and a plinth originally supported urns and a figure of Ceres, the Roman goddess of the harvest, which were removed early in the Second World War and never replaced.

A west-facing flank elevation originally faced Market Street. When Market Street was created in 1890, part of an adjoining block was demolished to create a rear covered market designed by Reginald Blomfield. The covered market was demolished in 1979, and replaced with small shop units. The ground floor of the Corn Exchange was converted into four shops (Nos. 2-8 Market Street), while the upper floor was converted into a hall, featuring a lecture studio and a committee room.

Inside, the main hall retains a coved ceiling and visible iron trussed roof. The Corn Exchange replaced a smaller building constructed in the early 1840s, which itself had superseded a corn trading area at the rear of Shire Hall.