| Corn Exchange, Dereham | |
| Coordinates: | 52.6812°N 0.9404°W |
| Location: | Market Place, Dereham |
| Built: | 1857 |
| Architect: | Mathias Goggs |
| Architecture: | Neoclassical style |
| Designation1: | Grade II Listed Building |
| Designation1 Offname: | Former Corn Exchange |
| Designation1 Date: | 20 August 1951 |
| Designation1 Number: | 1169492 |
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in the Market Place, Dereham, Norfolk, England. The structure, which is used as a cinema, is a Grade II listed building.
In the early 1850s, a group of local businessmen decided to form a private company, known as the "East Dereham Corn Exchange Company", to finance and commission a purpose-built corn exchange for the town.[1] The investors included Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, whose seat was a Holkham Hall, and who took a personal interest in the project.[2] The site selected, on the west side of the Market Place, had been occupied by The Shambles, a collection of dilapidated market stalls.[3]
The building was designed by Mathias Goggs of Swaffham in the neoclassical style, built in red brick with a stucco finish and was opened in February 1857.[4] [5] [6] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto the Market Place. The bays were separated by six full-height Corinthian order columns supporting a cornice and a parapet. The central section of three bays, which featured an elevated parapet, formed a triumphal arch. A statue of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester was installed on top of the raised parapet on 6 September 1858.[7] [8]
After a public meeting in the building, in June 1859, at which 30 men enlisted for the newly formed Dereham Volunteer Rifle Corps,[9] the building also served as the local drill hall.[10] It appears that the building did not meet with universal acclaim as, in February 1866, an application was made to the court to have it demolished. The Vice-Chancellor ruled that it should not be pulled down as it was "a great public improvement".[11] However, 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.[12] The glass roof on the building was badly damaged in a zeppelin raid in September 1915.[13]
The building was converted for use as a cinema in 1924 and re-branded as the Exchange Theatre after the Second World War.[14] The statue of the Earl of Leicester on the top of the parapet was hit by a bolt of lightning in June 1950; the head was shattered and the rest of the statue was subsequently demolished.[15] The building was remodelled to create a dance floor in the stalls area in 1961. After a change of ownership in 1975, it started operating as a bingo hall and social club, as well as a cinema.[3] The building was later remodelled again to create a three-screen cinema and re-branded as the Orion Cinema.[14]