Corn exchanges

click photo to enlarge

A nineteenth century building that can be found in many of England's towns and cities is the corn exchange. Most of them were built during Victoria's reign, though some date from the first few decades of the 1800s. Their main purpose was to provide a space where farmers and merchants could trade cereals. However, anyone who has seen a selection of corn exchanges will realise that important subsidiary purposes of the buildings were to proclaim the wealth of those involved in this branch of agriculture and to adorn the community of which they were a part: corn exchanges are often very ostentatious! It's unusual to find a corn exchange that merges comfortably with the vernacular style of the locality: in the main they are built of stone, usually in a classical style, though occasionally Gothic is used, and they mostly dwarf the buildings around them.

Where the corn exchange is entirely new (as opposed to a conversion of an existing building) they are typically three bays wide. The central bay has the main entrance door, and often the flanking bays have doors too. Central towers are not uncommon, even above a classical facade where no Greek or Roman would have put one (though the architects of the English Renaissance such as Wren might have done so). A discernible order of architecture is often seen: at Newark it is Corinthian, King's Lynn chose Ionic. But what is mandatory (apart from the date of construction and, usually, the words "Corn Exchange") is sculpture, either in relief or in the form of symbolic figures - Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, is commonly seen. Other popular subjects are, unsurprisingly, sheaves of wheat, scythes and sickles, cornucopias and rakes.

The life of most corn exchanges wasn't very long, the process of trading wheat changed, and these interesting, showy buildings were often turned to new uses based around the large trading hall that had been the focus of their commercial activity. Many towns converted them into theatres. This happened at Stamford, Lincolnshire, at Cambridge and at King's Lynn (above) to name but three. Others, such as the one on the High Street in Hull became museums. At Newark (above) a nightclub currently makes use of the building. It is a testament to their quality and adaptability, as well as the local affection that exists for these buildings, that they continue to serve their communities many years after their original purpose has passed. Long may they continue to do so.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 24mm
 F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

750th post

click photos to enlarge
I just noticed that yesterday's post was a small milestone - the 750th PhotoReflect post. Add the 60 posts under the PhotoQuoto heading and that makes 810 posts since December 2005. All of which begs the question, "How many more posts will I make?" Recently I've had the feeling that I may be drawing to a conclusion with the present format, or that perhaps I need a new direction. Well, we'll see.

Today's pair of photographs show a couple of contrasting buildings with slightly different photographic approaches. The first is a piece of Victorian showmanship from 1856 by the Lincoln architects, Bellamy & Hardy. Corn Exchanges in England are often wilfully odd and awkward looking buildings that take enormous liberties with the Classical vocabulary. Hull's is relatively sedate in comparison with many, and, its original purpose long past, is now part of a museum. For this image I stood in the narrow High Street, positioned myself at the centre of the building, pointed the camera up, and took this symmetrical shot which echoes the symmetry of the structure.

The second photograph is a detail of the corner of the north facade of Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire, a work of the 1720s by Sir John Vanbrugh. It is also a strictly symmetrical design, and in my earlier photograph of a detail of the centre of the building I acknowledged this. However, in this image I was looking for balanced asymmetry, and so placed the pair of heavy columns slightly off-centre (though with one in the centre anchoring the composition), and included the angular cornice-line and sky, as well as the differing windows, as elements of imbalance.

Perhaps it's because of my interest in painting, architecture and architectural drawing (see yesterday's post), but representing buildings with strongly converging verticals doesn't come naturally to me. It's always seemed to me to be a convention exclusive to photography - which I suppose it is! When I'm photographing architecture I find myself aiming for shots that keep the verticals properly upright, and only after I've done that do I look for shots of this sort.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Image 1 (Image 2)
Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 16mm (11) (32mm (22mm)/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1 (5.6)
Shutter Speed: 1/320 (1/500)
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 (-1.3) EV
Image Stabilisation: On