Summary
Former Corn Exchange, dated 1874, built to the designs of John Ladds RIBA and Henry William Powell FRIBA, later used as a concert venue.
Reasons for Designation
Bedford Corn Exchange, dated 1874 and built to the designs of John Ladds RIBA and Henry William Powell FRIBA, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as an elegant Victorian public building, it is enriched with classical detailing, enlivened by a variety of materials, and dominates the north side of St Paul’s Square;
* for the high degree of survival of the original plan form and classical architectural features, including its porches, window and door surrounds, mullion and transom windows, and ornate ceiling with three glazed domes;
* as a confident work by John Ladds RIBA and Henry William Powell FRIBA, who elsewhere designed Chorley Town Hall in Lancashire (1875, not listed), and a terrace of shops and flats at 125-9 Mount Street in London (1886-1887, Grade II).
Historic interest:
* as a key public building in the historic county town of Bedford;
* for the historic role the Corn Exchange played in the entertainment of the nation during the Second World War, from where the BBC Symphony Orchestra broadcast public concerts between September 1941 and July 1945, including the golden jubilee concert of the Proms in 1944.
Group value:
* for the strong contribution it makes to the historic streetscape of St Paul’s Square, which also includes the Church of St Paul (Grade I), a statue of John Howard (Grade I), and the Town Hall and Shire Hall (both listed at Grade II).
History
A Corn Exchange, later known as the Floral Hall, was built at the north-east corner of St Paul’s Square in 1849 at a cost of £2,000. Within twenty years of its construction, a larger Corn Exchange was required, and a new building was planned on the north side of St Paul’s Square. The architects assigned to the building of the new Corn Exchange were Messrs Ladds and Powell of London. John Ladds RIBA (1835-1926) was an architect best known for his work on churches and schools, especially church-affiliated schools. Henry William Powell FRIBA (1847-1900) was articled to Joseph Gardner of Folkestone from 1864 to 1867 and remained his assistant until he became the assistant of Sydney Smirke. He was nominated ARIBA in 1873, and with John Ladds formed the partnership of Ladds and Powell. Together they designed the Corn Exchange in Bedford (1871-1874), Chorley Town Hall in Lancashire (1875, not listed), and a terrace of shops and flats at 125-9 Mount Street in London (1886-87, listed at Grade II NHLE 1223669). Powell was nominated FRIBA in 1887 and emigrated to South Africa around 1890 where he set up an architectural practice in Durban and designed a number of buildings including the Durban Club (1890), public baths (1891), Durban High School (1894) and Victoria Club (1895). Elsewhere in South Africa he designed Victoria Hall at Martizburg College (1897) and the Old Colonial Building at Pietermaritzburg (1897-1901).
The foundation stone of the new Corn Exchange was laid on 21 October 1872 by the Right Hon Earl Cowper, KG, Lord Lieutenant of the County and the Duke of Bedford, and construction cost £9,000. An opening ceremony was held on 15 April 1874 when the Duke of Bedford, the Marquess of Tavistock and a number of Bedford’s prominent figures processed from Shire Hall, past the old Corn Exchange and into the new building. The hall was designed to be a spacious assembly room, well-lit and ventilated by windows on each of the east, south and west walls, with three domed roof-lights over. Historic photos suggest the roof of the Corn Exchange may previously have had a glazed apex and sheeted covering such as lead and was replaced by slate in the mid- or late C20. A photograph of a bazaar held in the Corn Exchange around 1880 shows that the hall formerly had a small balustraded balcony in each of its southeast and southwest corners, and these appear to have been replaced by a large balcony across the width of the hall in the mid- or late C20. The basement was designed to contain offices, cloakrooms, a kitchen, hall keeper’s room and dining rooms. Both the ‘Old Corn Exchange’ and ‘New Corn Exchange’ are shown on the 1884 Ordnance Survey map, and the old Corn Exchange was later demolished in 1904.
Bedford Amateur Musical Society (now the Choral Society) installed an organ on the centre of the north wall in 1900, however this was removed in 1951 after falling into disrepair between the wars. In 1926 the Corn Exchange was refurbished with a new rock maple dance floor and ornate decoration; the walls and ceiling were painted in light pastel shades contrasting with dark wood panelling, and the relief moulding of the ceiling was painted in various colours. Crests of the borough and local schools with those of prominent local families – Harper, Hawes and Paradine alongside Offa (King of Mercia), Bray and de Beauchamp were painted along the upper part of the walls. The total cost of the refurbishment was £341/5/0 and was carried out by Mr H S Manning. Comparison of historic photographs indicates the small ground floor windows on the front elevation were introduced around this time, replacing the carved stone arms of the borough.
The Corn Exchange became popular for dances between the wars, and during the Second World War the BBC Symphony Orchestra utilised the venue between September 1941 and July 1945 for public concerts which were broadcast to the nation. The Music and Religious Departments of the BBC decamped to Bedford when it became too dangerous for them to be based in London or their wartime home, Bristol. Around 400 musicians, staff and engineers moved to the town, and many buildings were utilised as studios, offices and lodgings. During this time, the Corn Exchange was also used as an Armed Forces Canteen. The BBC Proms came to Bedford in 1944, and the Golden Jubilee Concert was held there celebrating 50 years of the Proms. Captain Glenn Miller and the American Band of the Supreme Allied Command gave their first broadcast in Great Britain from the Corn Exchange in July 1944, and a wealth of British guest stars performed with them including Dorothy Careless, Bruce Trent, Sergeant Jimmy Miller, Vera Lynn and Anne Shelton. Miller played his last concert at the Corn Exchange before he disappeared in 1944, and he is commemorated with a sculptural bust on the front elevation by Patricia Finch, added in 1994.
An audience bar and function room known as the Howard Room was added to the west side of the building around 1975, linking the Corn Exchange with the Harpur Suite on the west side of Mayes Yard. The Corn Exchange was refurbished in 1995 by Lees Associates, and refurbishment included replacement of the balcony balustrade, installation of acoustic wall coverings over the windows, air conditioning, tiered seating, improvements to the backstage artists’ area, and creation of the Miller and Bunyan Rooms in the basement. In the same year, the Philharmonia Orchestra commenced residency at Bedford Corn Exchange.
Details
Former Corn Exchange, dated 1874, built to the designs of John Ladds RIBA and Henry William Powell FRIBA, later used as a concert venue.
MATERIALS: the roof has a slate covering, and the walls are constructed of white brick with Bath stone cornices and Pennant stone dressings.
PLAN: it is rectangular on plan, facing south to St Paul’s Square.
EXTERIOR: the Corn Exchange is a five-bay two-storey building over a raised basement; the central three bays are tall and flanked by a lower two-storey entrance bay on each side. The roof over the central three bays is hipped to the front (south) and gabled to the rear (north), with a slate roof covering. The entrance bays each have a lean-to roof with a slate covering. The walls are constructed of white brick laid in Flemish bond, with Bath stone cornices and Pennant stone dressings. The front elevation to St Paul’s Square has four square-plan chimneystacks over a white-brick parapet wall, under which three tall central bays are ornamented with classical detailing. The entablature is carved of Bath stone and features terracotta panels to its frieze, with five nodule-like panels to each of the three central bays. Under the chimneystacks, the bays are separated by pairs of engaged pilasters with foliated capitals at first-floor level, and a shallow buttress at ground-floor and basement levels. At first floor level each of the three central bays has a segmental-arched window surround with a foliated keystone, and spandrels with square terracotta panels laid out in a chequerboard pattern. A double stringcourse extends across the five bays of the front elevation, the upper stringcourse rises to provide a continuous stringcourse and hood moulding over the three central windows. The windows are mullioned and transomed, the mullions subtly carved to suggest the form of engaged pilasters. The entrance bays to each side feature a balustraded parapet and plain entablature over the first-floor, which has a flat-arched mullioned and transomed window flanked by pairs of engaged brick pilasters with carved foliated stone capitals. At ground floor level the entrance bays each have a projecting single-storey porch, with a balustraded parapet and plain stone entablature, the frieze of which is inscribed ‘CORN EXCHANGE’. The cornice is supported on either side of the doorway by pairs of engaged columns with scrolled capitals, standing on tall plinths. Between the columns a segmental-arched porch opening has carved foliated spandrels, a consoled keystone, and recessed half-glazed doors with glazed sidelights and an overlight, approached by four stone steps. Between the porches, the three central bays each have three small windows at ground floor level under a continuous stringcourse, and two flat-arched windows or doors at basement level. The walls of the ground floor and basement bear seven continuous bands of nailhead moulding. The central window of the ground floor has been infilled and the space utilised to host a bust of Glenn Miller by Patricia Finch, installed in 1994. Under the bust of Glenn Miller is applied metal lettering ‘BEDFORD / CORN / EXCHANGE’, added around 1995. At basement level the two central buttresses bear date stones. The eastern date stone bears the inscription: ‘THIS STONE WAS LAID / OCTOBER XXI MDCCCLXXII / BY THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL COWPER, K G / LORD LIEUTENANT OF THIS COUNTY / IN THE PRESENCE OF / HIS GOOD GRACE THE DUKE OF BEDFORD / JAMES COOMBS, M D MAYOR’. The western date stone bears the inscription: ‘THIS EXCHANGE / WAS OPENED APRIL XV. MDCCCLXXIV. / BY THE MOST NOBLE / FRANCIS CHARLES HASTINGS / NINTH DUKE OF BEDFORD / GEORGE HURST J P MAYOR’. Between the porches wrought-iron railings enclose the basement, incorporating ornamented gate posts and a gate to the interior side of each porch; the gates provide access to a plain metal basement stair which may have been replaced in the late C20. The side elevations of the building step back behind the stair halls; the west elevation was infilled at ground floor level and its first floor windows obscured when the Howard Room was added around 1975 (the Howard Room is not of special interest and is excluded from the List entry). The rear (north) elevation is gabled with brown brick laid in English bond; a single-storey extension and a metal spiral stair were added to the rear in the mid-C20, and a further single-storey extension added around 1975.
INTERIOR: The interior features a double-height hall, with a coved ceiling featuring three shallow glazed domes and margins ornamented with paterae. The north and south walls each have an arcade of three blind arches; those on the south wall have windows to the exterior but were boarded to the interior in 1995 for acoustic performance. The east and west walls each have an arcade of six arches, the north four arches of which contain windows and are covered with acoustic fabric to enhance acoustic performance; the windows of the west wall were blocked when the Howard Room was added around 1975. Each arch has a plain keystone, and rests on a pair of engaged pilasters and a shallow buttress in the form of a tall plinth. The entrance halls in the southeast and southwest corners each contain a stair with a moulded handrail; the west stair has a lift shaft on its north wall (introduced in 1995), and the stair continues northwest into the Howard Room (added around 1975 and not included within this List entry). Both stairs provide access to the first-floor balcony which likely replaced two smaller corner balconies in the mid- or late-C20. An angled sound and lighting room was introduced in the northeast corner of the balcony in 1995. The balcony has fixed tiered seating along its south wall, and the hall below has retractable theatre seating built into the south wall. The basement was refurbished in 1995, and the Bunyan and Miller Rooms formed at the north end of the building.
