In front of you is the financial heart of London. This junction is called Bank after the Bank of England, founded in 1694, whose blank wall you can see on one side. But the building with the columned portico is older as an institution: the Royal Exchange, the city's first commercial exchange.

1The merchant and the queen

It was founded by Thomas Gresham, a merchant who had worked in Antwerp and wanted London to have something like that city's bourse: a courtyard where merchants could trade under cover. Work began in 1566, and in January 1571 Elizabeth I paid a visit and granted it the title ‘Royal’. Gresham's emblem was a grasshopper, which is why a golden one still turns on the weathervane.

2Three buildings on one site

The first burned down in the Great Fire of 1666. The second went up in flames in 1838. The one you see is the third, by William Tite, opened by Queen Victoria in 1844. No trading has happened here for a long time: the stockbrokers moved out in the 20th century, and the inner courtyard is now home to shops and cafés.

In the pediment, above the figure of Commerce, you can read a line from Psalm 24: “The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.” A curious warning at the door of a temple to commerce.

3What to look for

  • The golden grasshopper on the weathervane, Gresham's emblem.
  • The pediment, with Commerce at the centre surrounded by merchants from around the world.
  • The equestrian statue of Wellington in front of the portico.

Documented

Thomas Gresham founded the Exchange in 1566, Elizabeth I granted it the title Royal in 1571, and the present building, by William Tite, opened in 1844.

Sources and credits

The Royal Exchange, official website (history); Historic England, list entry “Royal Exchange” (Grade I); Ann Saunders (ed.), “The Royal Exchange”, London Topographical Society (1997).

Photos:

  • The Royal Exchange portico at Bank junction, with the Wellington statue: Julian Herzog, CC BY 4.0.

Spotted a mistake? Drop us a line and we’ll look into it.