Introduction

Bury St Edmunds was an important market centre before the Norman Conquest. The provision market is still held in what was once the Norman market place, although the market place is now smaller because buildings have encroached upon it. One of these buildings is the Corn Exchange, situated at the junction of Abbeygate Street and Cornhill. The present building dates from 1861 but its origins go back much earlier.

The first Corn Exchange

The first Corn Exchange was built by the Guildhall Feoffment Trust in 1583. The site of their building is unknown and it was destroyed in the great fire which swept through Bury St Edmunds in 1608. It was replaced by a timber market cross, on the site of the present market cross, built by 1620. This consisted of an open corn-stead below and a clothiers hall above. In 1734 the clothiers hall was converted into a playhouse. In 1779 the market cross was completely remodelled to designs by Robert Adam and took on essentially the appearance it maintains today. The main difference is that the ground floor was left open and this part continued to be used as a Corn Exchange.

The second Corn Exchange

The Corn Exchange was outgrowing the Market Cross, and in 1836 the Town Council built a new Corn Exchange next door. The activities of the corn merchants rapidly outgrew this building also, and so the present Corn Exchange was built in 1861. The old building was used initially as a provision market. In 1899 the north end was still used as a provision market, but the centre was occupied by a school of art and the south end by a fire station. In 1937 a public library opened in the building, but this moved to its current site at St Andrews Street North in 1983 and the old Corn Exchange building was converted into shops.

The present Corn Exchange

The new Corn Exchange was designed by Ellis and Woodard and built by local builder Lot Jackaman in 1861-2 at a cost of £7,000. The front has a giant Ionic portico with a pediment on which are figures representing agriculture and the inscription “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof”. The two sides are divided into bays by stone pilasters. At the rear is a slate roofed colonnade, now a shop. This was originally part of the town shambles, which occupied most of the site on which the Corn Exchange now stands.

Commerce and change

Being at the commercial heart of the town, the site is an important one. In the 1960s it was proposed that the Corn Exchange should be demolished and replaced by shops. This aroused considerable protest and a lively public debate. It was resolved by a compromise proposal that a new floor should be inserted into the hall, and this work took place in 1969. Shops were built on the ground floor but the hall remains on the first floor and is available to hire for functions and events.