Proposed Royal Exchange Marsden Square Manchester

The Manchester Royal Exchange Association Directors: James Atherton, Thomas Barge junior, J W Fraser, Daniel Grant, Thomas Markland,Robert N Philips, Alderman Potter, Sidney Potter, Edmund Peel Thomson

The want of adequate space at the present Exchange; the impossibility that, even if the enlargements now projected there are carried into execution, more than a temporary accommodation can be afforded; the inconvenience felt by the mercantile body in general, from the position of the present Exchange, remote from the general mass of warehouses and counting houses; and the impropriety of an Exchange being situated in the shopping and not the mercantile district, have induced the promoters of the present project to lay the same before the public.

The spot selected as the most eligible position for an Exchange is Marsden Square. This spot is at once the centre of, and almost the highest ground in the town, It is easy of access from every quarter; is equidistant from the Victoria, London Road, and the proposed South Junction Railway Stations; and is nearer to the Post Office, Borough Court, the majority of the banks, club houses, and the chief hotels and coach offices than the present Exchange. The site proposed for this erection is bounded by Market Street, High Street, Cannon Street and Palace Street. It covers an area equal to that of the Exchanges of London or Liverpool, and exceeding considerably that of the Exchanges of Glasgow or Newcastle.

Together with the erection of an ample Exchange, or New Room, the promoters have been desirous of, at the same time, supplying other wants of the town. The plan proposed includes on the ground floor a newsroom, a stock exchange and general sales rooms; and on the upper floors, a large sample sales room, and a room adapted either for a music hall, or public meetings, and adequate for supplying the long required accommodation for choral meetings and festivals. After making ample provision for the above, a large space will be left, available either for private offices or public purposes, as the same may be required. To effect an object so desirable, a company is formed under the title of “The Manchester Royal Exchange Association.” From the estimates which have been made, it is confidently expected that a return of upwards of six per cent will be realised. [Manchester Guardian 6 September 1845 page 4]

ROYAL MANCHESTER INSTITUTION EXHIBITION, 719- THE DESIGN FOR THE ROYAL MANCHESTER EXCHANGE, J E Gregan. This is the plan for the building proposed to be erected on the site of Marsden Square; and it would indeed have been a structure worthy of Manchester. The design is Grecian, and of large proportion, consisting of a centre and two projecting wings, the area between which forms the pavé for the merchants at high exchange. The building is surrounded by a colonnade and surmounted by a cupola of ample dimensions. But it is not merely as an architectural design that we praise Mr Gregan’s productions, but, considered in an artistic point of view, it does him the highest credit, being purely and delicately coloured, and incomparably superior to anything of a like nature in the exhibition. [Manchester Guardian 4 November 1846 page 6]

Reference    Manchester Guardian 6 September 1845 page 4 – prospectus
Reference    Manchester Guardian 4 November 1846 page 6 – plans exhibitee