Albert Hall, Colchester
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The Albert Hall is a commercial building in the High Street,
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...
,
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a
corn exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchanges. Such trade was common in towns ...
and is now used as a bank, is a Grade II
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.


History

The first corn exchange in the town was designed by David Laing and was erected at the west end of the High Street in 1820. In the early 1840s, civic officials decided that the old corn exchange was inadequate and should be replaced by a new structure on an adjacent site to the east of the old building. The current building was designed by Raphael Brandon in the
neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...
, built in
ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
stone and was completed in 1845. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto the High Street. The central section of three bays, which was recessed, featured three round headed openings separated by
Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...
columns supporting a
frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
, an
entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
, a
modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...
ed
cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...
and a
parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...
. The outer bays featured niches containing life-size figures depicting agricultural workers and were flanked by
Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...
pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...
s. A statue of the
goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...
, Ceres, was initially placed at the centre of the parapet but the stone quickly became eroded and the statue was removed. The use of the building as a corn exchange declined significantly in the wake of the Great Depression of British Agriculture in the late 19th century. It closed as a corn exchange in 1884 and re-opened the following year as the Albert School of Art and Science. The life-size figures of agricultural workers were removed from the niches and were subsequently displayed outside a car park on Balkerne Hill. The building was requisitioned for use as a food control office i.e. rationing centre during the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and then re-opened as an events venue with a stage and gallery in 1926. The building also operated as a cinema in the 1930s, and continued to host public events after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
: performers included the
rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...
, ''
The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
'', in August 1965. It closed as an events venue in 1972, and served as a stationery shop, operated by Cullingford and Company, into the late-1970s. After a major programme of refurbishment works in the 1980s, the building re-opened as a branch of
The Co-operative Bank The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. is a British retail and commercial bank based in Manchester, England. Established as a bank for co-operators and co-operatives following the principles of the Rochdale Pioneers, the business evolved in the 20th ce ...
and as the local office of
General Accident General Accident plc was a large insurance business based in Perth, Scotland. It merged with Commercial Union in 1998 to form CGU plc. History The Norie-Miller years The Employers' Liability Act 1880 ( 43 & 44 Vict. c. 42) opened a new are ...
in 1991.


See also

*
Corn exchanges 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 ...


Notes


References

{{reflist Commercial buildings completed in 1845 Grade II listed buildings in Essex Corn exchanges in England Buildings and structures in Colchester (town)