Corn Exchange, Manchester

History

The first Corn Exchange built on this site was designed by Richard Lane and completed in 1837. By the late 19th century, it was considered too small, and civic officials decided to commission a larger building.

The current building was designed in the Baroque style, and built in two sections. Each section was designed by a different architect, the first by Ball & Elce and built between 1896 and 1899, and the second by Potts, Son, & Hennings and built between 1899 and 1903.

The volume of trading in corn declined significantly in the wake of the Great Depression of British Agriculture and the building was largely disused in the wake of the Second World War. In the 1960s to early 1980s, while the interior fell into disuse, the rear side of the Corn Exchange on Fennel Street became home to various nightclubs, including Pips, an important part of Manchester's music scene, where in 1978 Joy Division played their first gig under this name. A number of shops with street access on the building's basement level also continued to operate throughout this period. The Corn Exchange was briefly used by the Royal Exchange Theatre Company from 1976 and it served as a filming location for Granada Television's Brideshead Revisited in 1981.

Over time, the interior developed into a large market emporium, and was a gathering place for alternative subcultures. Small stallholders sold items such as clothes, jewellery, historical paraphernalia and second-hand records. Most of the shops were temporary structures built on the central trading floor, while a few operated from the rooms arranged around the perimeter. A café was located in part of the basement, to the northeast of the ground floor.

In 1996, the IRA carried out a bomb attack on central Manchester. All of the Corn Exchange's windows were blown in by the blast; the glass dome shattering and falling onto the market area below. Structural and masonry damage were also reported. The Corn Exchange was subsequently renovated and reopened as the Triangle Shopping Centre, named in reference to the building's shape. In 2005, the then-owners, the Blackstone Group and its UK-based partner, Milligan Retail Resorts International, sold the complex to the Norwich Property Trust, for £67 million.

In 2012, The Triangle was relaunched as Corn Exchange, Manchester and plans were revealed to convert the building into a food outlet and hotel. A demolition company commenced work to strip out modern interior materials and fixtures in 2014, and a food outlet opened in the complex in 2015. An apartment hotel, developed by Roomzzz Aparthotels, opened in 2018. It accommodates a reception area on the ground floor and 114 rooms on the upper floors.

References

References

1. {{NHLE
2. "Corn Exchange, Hanging Ditch, Manchester". Architects of Greater Manchester.
3. Neil Darlington and The Manchester Group of the Victorian Society. (2022). "Manchester Corn Exchange". Manchester Victorian Architects.
4. Fletcher, T. W.. (1973). "'The Great Depression of English Agriculture 1873-1896' in ''British Agriculture 1875-1914''". Methuen.
5. Bamford, Thom. (30 August 2023). "Pips Nightclub - Manchester's legendary avant-garde club".
6. Cooper, Matthew. (6 August 2017). "The nightclub which birthed Joy Division now lies beneath the Corn Exchange". Manchester Evening News.
7. "Corn Exchange History {{!}} 1950 to 2000 {{!}} Manchester History". CIP Property (AIPT) Limited.
8. (5 November 2015). "Manchester nostalgia: Looking back at the Corn Exchange's history". Manchester Evening News.
9. Massey, Joanne. (July 2005). "The Gentrification of Consumption: A View from Manchester". Sociological Research Online.
10. Molyneux, Jess. (10 February 2022). "Unearthed images take you back to the stalls of the Corn Exchange in the 1990s". Manchester Evening News.
11. (18 October 2005). "Triangle sold in £67m deal". Manchester Evening News.
12. Begum, Shelina. (8 August 2013). "The taste of things to come – Manchester's Corn Exchange to be turned into top dining destination". Manchester Evening News.
13. Bell, Alex. (2 May 2014). "Boutique hotel to open in Corn Exchange as part of £30m redevelopment". Manchester Evening News.
14. Sarah Walters. (14 September 2015). "Take a look: Wahaca opens at Manchester's Corn Exchange". Manchester Evening News.
15. (21 July 2016). "The beautiful unseen Manchester Corn Exchange revealed as work begins on new hotel". Manchester Evening News.
16. Lovell, Lucy. (10 February 2018). "New aparthotel opens up unseen parts of the Corn Exchange". Manchester Evening News.