Photograph of the Corn Exchange in Jewry Street, Winchester
Taken about 1870
The Corn Exchange was designed by Winchester architect O B Carter, and won him an architectural competition. It is an essentially Classical building with a Tuscan portico and corner pavilions, although its symmetry cannot be appreciated from the angle of this image which looks north-west. The original ground plans show a large pitched market area as well as a sample market, clerk's office and residence and a committee room. It opened in 1838 as a market place for the sale of agricultural produce and played an important part in the farming life of the area for several decades.
A century after its construction it became the City Library, and continues to fulfil this role today.
The photograph was taken by Winchester photographer William Savage (1817-87) and is found in an album of his work.
