page_title: Corn exchanges in England
section_title: East Riding of Yorkshire
hierarchical_section_title: Corn exchanges in England / Corn exchanges listed by Ceremonial Counties of England / East Riding of Yorkshire
caption_attribution_description: English: Hull Corn Exchange 1856
context_page_description: In England, corn exchanges are distinct buildings which were originally created as a venue for corn merchants to meet and arrange pricing with farmers for the sale of wheat, barley and other corn crops. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley. With the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, a large number of corn exchanges were built, particularly in the corn-growing areas of Eastern England. However, with the fall in price of English corn as a result of cheap imports, corn exchanges virtually ceased to be built after the 1870s. Increasingly they were put to other uses, particularly as meeting and concert halls. Many found a new lease of life in the early 20th century as cinemas, Following the Second World War, many could not be maintained and they were demolished. In the 1970s their architectural importance came to be appreciated, and most of the surviving examples are listed buildings. Most of the surviving corn exchanges have now been restored, and many have become arts centres, theatres or concert halls.
context_section_description: Beverley. The building dates from 1886 and commands a view over the southern end of the Saturday Market Place. For many years it served as the 'Beverley Playhouse'.
  Driffield. Corn exchange. 1842. Later town hall and now part of the Bell Hotel.
  Hull. The corn exchange, High Street, Hull. Now the Hull and East Riding Museum. Nikolaus Pevsner and David Neave describe this as an imposing building of 1856, with massive Italianate stone front. Three storeys, three bays with a high doorway flanked with Corinthian columns, with a large beaded mask carved on the keystone and agricultural motifs on the spandrels. Tripartite windows to first floor and big semi-circular windows to the upper floor. Cartouche with town arms on parapet. The corn exchange incorporated a huge exchange hall spanned by timber trusses supported on carved corbels. The building was little used and in disrepair by 1888 and lost more business in 1904 when the new Corn Market opened in the Market Hall, North Church Side. It closed in 1906 and some of the rooms were used as offices by companies such as the Yorkshire Farmers.  During the First World War it was used to house troops. It found a new purpose in 1925 when it became the Museum of Commerce and Transport and then in 1989 the Hull and East Riding Museum.
caption: Hull Corn Exchange 1863
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