Okay, so it wasn’t exactly a hot spot. But it was an economic backbone of corn and grain trade, and therefore an important part of the business side of London. Behind the fancy columns lay coffeehouses, the bastion of Regency commerce.
CORN EXCHANGE, MARK LANE, CITY, projected and opened 1747, enlarged and partly rebuilt in 1827, and reopened June 24th, 1828. The market days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and the hours of business are from 10 to 3; Monday is the principal day. Wheat is paid for in bills at one month, and all other descriptions of corn and grain in bills at two months. The Kentish “hoymen” (distinguished by their sailors’ jackets) have stands free of expense, and pay less for rentage and dues than others.
Peter Cunningham, Hand-Book of London, 1850
The picture of London, enlarged and improved,1825
London or interesting memorials of its rise, progress & present state, 1824
New Picture of London; Or, a View of the Political, Religious, Medical…, 1830
