Refurbished in , the Royal Exchange is now home to many of the world's finest brands. The eight-column portico, based on the the Pantheon in Rome. Restaraunts and Bars: am to pm. North and south of the portico, and in the attic, are the City sword and mace, with the date of Queen Elizabeth's reign and , and in the lower panels mantles bearing the initials of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria respectively.
The imperial crown is twelve inches in relief, and seven feet high. The tympanum of the pediment of the portico is filled with sculpture, by Richard Westmacott, R. The centre figure, ten feet high, is Commerce, with her mural crown, upon two dolphins and a shell. She holds the charter of the Exchange. On the left are two British merchants and a Persian, a Chinese, a Levant sailor, a negro, a British sailor, and a supercargo.
The ascent to the portico is by thirteen granite steps. It was discussed at the time whether a figure of Gresham himself should not have been substituted for that of Commerce; but perhaps the abstract figure is more suitable for a composition which is, after all, essentially allegorical. The clock, constructed by Dent, with the assistance of the Astronomer Royal, is true to a second of time, and has a compensation pendulum. In the chime-work, by Dent, there are two hammers to several of the bells, so as to play rapid passages; and three and five hammers strike different bells simultaneously.
All irregularity of force is avoided by driving the chime-barrel through wheels and pinions. There are no wheels between the weight that pulls and the hammer to be raised.
The lifts on the chime-barrel are all epicycloidal curves; and there are 6, holes pierced upon the barrel for the lifts, so as to allow the tunes to be varied. The chime-work is stated to be the first instance in England of producing harmony in bells. The interior of the Exchange is an open courtyard, resembling the cortile of Italian palaces.
It was almost unanimously decided by the London merchants in spite of the caprices of our charming climate to have no covering overhead, a decision probably long ago regretted. The ground floor consists of Doric columns and rusticated arches. Above these runs a series of Ionic columns, with arches and windows surmounted by a highly-ornamented pierced parapet.
The keystones of the arches of the upper storey are decorated with the arms of all the principal nations of the world, in the order determined by the Congress of Vienna. In the centre of the eastern side are the arms of England.
The ambulatory, or Merchants' Walk, is spacious and well sheltered. The arching is divided by beams and panelling, highly painted and decorated in encaustic. In the centre of each panel, on the four sides, the arms of the nations are repeated, emblazoned in their proper colours; and in the four angles are the arms of Edward the Confessor, who granted the first and most important charter to the City, Edward III.
In the south-east angle is a statue of Queen Elizabeth, by Watson, and in the south-west a marble statue of Charles II. In eight small circular panels of the ambulatory are emblazoned the arms of the three mayors Pirie, Humphrey, and Magnay , and of the three masters of the Mercers' Company in whose years of office the Exchange was erected.
The arms of the chairman of the Gresham Committee, Mr. Jones, and of the architect, Mr. Tite, complete the heraldic illustrations. The Yorkshire pavement of the ambulatory is panelled and bordered with black stone, and squares of red granite at the intersections.
The open area is paved with the traditional "Turkey stones," from the old Exchange, which are arranged in Roman patterns, with squares of red Aberdeen granite at the intersections. On the side-wall panels are the names of the walks, inscribed upon chocolate tablets. In each of the larger compartments are the arms of the "walk," corresponding with the merchants'. On a marble panel in the Merchants' Area are inscribed the dates of the building and opening of the three Exchanges.
Many sea-captains and brokers still go on 'Change; but the 'walks' are disregarded. The hour at High 'Change is from 3. A City writer of has sketched the chief celebrities of the Exchange of an earlier date. Salomon, with his old clothes-man attire, his close-cut grey beard, and his crutch-stick, toddling towards his offices in Shooter's Court, Throgmorton Street; Jemmy Wilkinson, with his old-fashioned manner, and his long-tailed blue coat with gilt buttons.
On the south and east sides of the Exchange are the arms of Gresham, the City, and the Mercers' Company, for heraldry has not even yet died out. Surely old heraldry was more religious than modern trade, for the shoddy maker, or the owner of overladen vessels, could hardly inscribe their vessels or their wares with the motto "Honor Deo;" nor could the director of a bubble company with strict propriety head the columns of his ledger with the solemn words, "Domine dirige nos.
The whole of the west end of the Exchange is taken up by the offices and board-rooms of the Royal Exchange Assurance Company, first organised in , at meetings in Mercers' Hall. It was an amalgamation of two separate plans. The petition for the royal sanction made, it seems, but slow way through the Council and the Attorney-General's department, for the South Sea Bubble mania was raging, and many of the Ministers, including the Attorney-General himself and who was indeed afterwards prosecuted , had shares in the great bubble scheme, and wished as far as possible to secure for it the exclusive attention of the company.
The petitioners, therefore under high legal authority , at once commenced business under the temporary title of the Mining, Royal Mineral, and Batteries Works, and in three-quarters of a year insured property to the amount of nearly two millions sterling. After the lapse of two years, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, eager for the money to be paid for the charter, and a select committee having made a rigid inquiry into the project, and the cash lodged at the Bank to meet losses, recommended the grant to the House of Commons.
The Act of the 6th George I. The "London Assurance," which is also lodged in the Exchange, obtained its charter at the same time. They were both allowed to assure on ships at sea, and going to sea, and to lend money on bottomry; and each was to have "perpetual succession" and a common seal. To prevent a monopoly, however, no person holding stock in either of the companies was allowed to purchase stock in the other. In , the "Royal Exchange Assurance" obtained another charter for assurances on lives, and also of houses and goods from fire.
At the close of the last, and commencement of the present century, the monopolies of the two companies in marine assurance were sharply assailed. Their enemies at last, however, agreed to an armistice, on their surrendering their special privileges, which in spite of Earl Grey's exertions were at last annulled, and any joint-stock company can now effect marine assurances.
The loss of the monopoly did not, however, injure either excellent body of underwriters. The subscribers' room for underwriting is feet long, by 48 feet wide, and runs from north to south, on the east side of the Merchants' Quadrangle. This noble chamber has a library attached to it, with a gallery round for maps and charts, which many a shipowner, sick at heart, with fears for his rich argosy, has conned and traced.
The captains' room, the board-room, and the clerks' offices, occupy the eastern end; and along the north front is the great commercial room, 80 feet long, a sort of club-room for strangers and foreign merchants visiting London. The rooms are lit from the ceilings, and also from windows opening into the quadrangle. They are all highly decorated, well warmed and ventilated, and worthy, as Mr. Effingham Wilson, in his book on the Exchange, justly observes, of a great commercial city like London.
The system of marine assurance seems to have been of great antiquity, and probably began with the Italian merchants in Lombard Street. The first mention of marine insurance in England, says an excellent author, Mr. Gresham, writing from Antwerp to Sir Thomas Parry, in May, Elizabeth , speaks of armour, ordered by Queen Elizabeth, bought by him at Antwerp, and sent by him to Hamburg for shipment though only about twelve ships a year came from thence to London.
He had also adventured at his own risk, one thousand pounds' worth in a ship which, as he says, "I have caused to be assured upon the Burse at Antwerp. The following preamble to the Statute, 43rd Elizabeth, proves that marine assurance was even then an old institution in England:—.
In , Malynes, in his "Lex Mercatoria," says that all policies of insurance at Antwerp, and other places in the Low Countries, then and formerly always made, mention that it should be in all things concerning the said assurances, as it was accustomed to be done in Lombard Street, London. In Charles I. Samuel Rolle, in his "CX. Discourses on the Fire of London," mentions an assurance office in the Royal Exchange, "which undertook for those ships and goods that were hazarded at sea, either by boistrous winds, or dangerous enemies, yet could not secure itself, when sin, like Samson, took hold of the pillars of it, and went about to pull it down.
After the Fire of London the underwriters met in a room near Cornhill; and from thence they removed to a coffee-house in Lombard Street, kept by a person named Lloyd, where intelligence of vessels was collected and made public. In a copy of Lloyd's List , No. Subscriptions are taken in at three shillings per quarter, at the bar of Lloyd's coffee-house in Lombard Street. In the Tatler of December 26th, , is the following:— "This coffee-house being provided with a pulpit, for the benefit of such auctions that are frequently made in this place, it is our custom, upon the first coming in of the news, to order a youth, who officiates as the Kidney of the coffeehouse, to get into the pulpit, and read every paper, with a loud and distinct voice, while the whole audience are sipping their respective liquors.
The following note is curious:— "11th March, This was the first account received thereof, and, proving true, Sir Robert was pleased to order him a handsome present.
The author of "The City" says: "The affairs of Lloyd's are now managed by a committee of underwriters, who have a secretary and five or six clerks, besides a number of writers to attend upon the rooms. The rooms, three in number, are called respectively the Subscribers' Room, the Merchants' Room, and the Captains' Room, each of which is frequented by various classes of persons connected with shipping and mercantile life.
Since the opening of the Merchants' Room, which event took place when business was re-commenced at the Royal Exchange, at the beginning of this year, an increase has occurred in the number of visitors, and in which numbers the subscribers to Lloyd's are estimated at 1, individuals.
Members to the Subscribers' Room, if they follow the business of underwriter or insurance broker, pay an entrance fee of twenty-five guineas, and an annual subscription of four guineas. If a person is a subscriber only, without practising the craft of underwriting, the payment is limited to the annual subscription fee of four guineas.
The Subscribers' Room numbers about 1, or 1, members, the great majority of whom follow the business of underwriters and insurance brokers. The most scrupulous attention is paid to the admission of members, and the ballot is put into requisition to determine all matters brought before the committee, or the meeting of the house. The underwriters usually fix their seats in one place, and, like the brokers on the Stock Exchange, have their particular as well as casual customers.
Not only has Lloyd's —a mere body of merchants—without Government interference or patronage, done much to give stability to our commerce, but it has distinguished itself at critical times by the most princely generosity and benevolence. In other charities Lloyd's were equally munificent. They also instituted rewards for those brave men who save, or attempt to save, life from shipwreck, and to those who do not require money a medal is given.
This medal was executed by W. Wyon, Esq. The Palace of Westminster Houses of Parliament. Learn about England and the other countries in Britain from the children who live in ther. Cookie Policy.
Getting to London. Facts about London. The Queen's Guards. Buildings and landmarks. London Transport. Essential information. Due to the fact that the courtyard was rather uneven, a new false-floor has been laid above it which is patterned in the same way as the original. The Royal Exchange has been home to important City institutions. The early dealings of the Stock Exchange also took place in the Royal Exchange until when separate premises were sought.
The second Royal Exchange was destroyed by a local fire in Cornhill on 10 January It was later rebuilt to essentially the same design and officially opened by Queen Victoria on 28 October The architect was Sir William Tite.
The third building also had an open quadrangle, but in a glass cover was erected over it. The building ceased to be used as an exchange in The building suffered only minor damage during the Second World War although the glass roof was in need of repair. The building stood empty due to all its tenants having moved away. For several years — during the s and s — the building was used by what was then called the Guildhall Museum.
At lunchtime, the public sat on the numerous stone benches under the arches and ate their sandwiches! In the s, modern premises were found for the Guildhall Museum on London Wall Street and the Royal Exchange closed to the public, only being used for the occasional art exhibition. The modern trading facilities were installed without affecting the fabric of the Victorian building. Above: Members of the public gaze about them at the modernised interior when it was first opened as a shopping centre about In the coverings, which had completely enveloped the structure for about three years, were removed.
Extensive modernisation had taken place with the construction of another level in the roof that is carefully concealed from view from the surrounding streets. The fabric of the building was retained but there were extensive additions made to the interior in order that it could be used as an up-market shopping centre. It was opened about , with a large coffee bar being added at the centre of the courtyard a few years later. The building is feet 91 m long with a width of feet 53 m narrowing to feet 36 m at the western end.
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