The Wool Exchange was completed in 1867, to an 1864 competition-winning design by Lockwood and Mawson. It was built using Bradford sandstone, in a Venetian Gothic style. The pointed ground floor arcade was originally open, and features geometric designs above triple lights. This arch is the fifth from the south in the ground floor arcade facing Market Street. In the spandrels of the ground floor arcade are portrait medallions of notable figures including Sir Francis Drake, Richard Cobden, Sir Walter Raleigh, Robert Stephenson, and William Ewart Gladstone. Above to the left of this arch is a medallion of Richard Arkwright, the inventor of the water powered spinning machine, and to the right is a medallion of James Watt, the inventor and improver of the steam engine. The building was used as a wool exchange until the 1970s, and was converted into shopping units in the late 20th century.
This is part of the Series: WOO02/01 Series of negatives taken for the National Buildings Record; within the Collection: WOO02 George Bernard Wood Collection
© Historic England Archive
Photographer: Wood, George Bernard
Arcade, Medallion, Post Medieval Wool Exchange, Trade And Commerce
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