page_title: Coal Exchange (London)
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Coal Exchange (London) / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Coal Exchange, London. Courtesy of victorianlondon.org
context_page_description: The London Coal Exchange was situated on the north side of Thames Street in the City of London, nearly opposite to Old Billingsgate Market, occupying three different structures from 1770 to 1962. The original coal exchange opened in 1770. A second building from 1805 was replaced by a new purpose-built structure constructed from 1847 to 1849, and opened by Prince Albert on 30 October 1849. This third London coal exchange was one of the first substantial buildings constructed from cast iron, built several years before the hall at the Great Exhibition. It was demolished in 1962 to allow widening of what is now Lower Thames Street despite a campaign by the Victorian Society to save the building. Cast iron decorations from the 1849 Coal Exchange building were selected as the model for the dragon boundary mark for the main entrances to the City of London.
context_section_description: Coal had been imported to London by sea since at least medieval times.  A coal exchange was established in 1770 on Thames Street in the City of London, near the site of Smart's Quay and close to Billingsgate Market; the main trades at Billingsgate Dock were fish and coal.  The market was established by the main coal merchants as a private body to regulate the trade of coal in the capital, and was controlled by private coal merchants until the old Coal Exchange was bought by the Corporation of London in 1807.  A new building had been built in 1805, with a recessed classical portico supported by small Doric pillars and triangular pediment above, with stone steps leading to a quadrangle within.  Under the control of the City Corporation, the Coal Exchange became a free and open market, regulated by various Acts of Parliament, including Acts in 1831, 1838 and 1845.
  At this period, London was heated almost entirely by coal.  By 1848, approximately 3.5 million tons of coal was being transported each year from the coalfields in Northumberland and Durham to London, with over 12,000 shiploads carried on nearly 3,000 vessels. The coal trade was also an important source of tax revenue for the city. The duty on coal funded Wren's rebuilding of more than fifty city churches and St Paul's Cathedral after the Great Fire of London in 1666, and also funded for other building works in the metropolis, such as the Thames Embankment.
  Historically, coal taxes (metage, payable on each chaldron of 35 bushels or the imperial ton) were charged by the City based on volume measurements. A coal duty of 4 pence was confirmed by James I, with a duty of 8 pence more added under William III and Mary II, and an additional 1 pence added to fund the construction of the new Coal Exchange. From 1831, the City of London charged a duty of 13 pence per imperial ton before coal could be unshipped, and a certificate was sent to the Coal Exchange stating the date of shipment, name and owner of the ship, quantity of coal, where it was mined, and the price paid. The coal trade was dominated by sea transport until 1845, but railway transportation increased in importance in the 1850s and 1860s, with similar quantities carried on the rails, and the coal duty was extended to coal brought within 20 miles of London by any means in 1862. By 1875, five million tons of coal were being brought to London each year by rail and three million tons by sea.
  Thousands of workmen of various grades were employed to move the coal from the ships to a customer's coal cellar, with "coal-whippers" carrying sacks of coal by hand from a ship to a coal merchant's lighter, and then taken onshore by "coal-backers".  The coal was sorted by "coal-sifter" and put into coal-sacks by a "coal-filler", then transported by "coal-waggoners" and delivered by a "coal-trimmer".  The work was heavy manual labour, but the trade was essential and workers were reasonably well paid for the period.
  In the Coal Exchange, coal factors acted as agents between sellers and buyers. Factors agreed with coal sellers how much coal is available on a particular day, based on the ships available and the market price, with the market meeting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 12 noon to 2:30 pm.  All sales were agreed privately, with no public auction, and factors would take a 0.5% commission.
  By 1845, a petition was made to build a new exchange, and the City Clerk of Works, James Bunstone Bunning, produced a design.  Construction started in December 1847 and the new Coal Exchange was formally opened by Prince Albert on 30 October 1849. The Lord Mayor and City MP, James Duke, was made a baronet in honour of the occasion.
caption: Exterior of the 1849 London Coal Exchange, c.1844, from Mogg's New Picture of London and Visitor's Guide to its Sights
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