Monument record 10069 - The Exchange, Northgate Street

The Exchange was a building in the centre of Northgate Street in the late 17th century and initially served as the common hall for several years after the chapel of St Nicholas was deemed unfit for use. The Exchange stood on the site of an earlier shambles opposite the Abbey gate, it is drawn on Levaux’s map in the 17th century. (3)

The building is described in the Victoria County History as comprising an open lower floor or piazza with the main chambers on the upper floor where the hall of pleas, the portmote court and the sheriff’s court were located. The Exchange was showing signs of damage by the mid 18th century with the result that the lower floor was enclosed and the space used as shops. It was eventually destroyed by fire in 1862 and the ruins of the building cleared to make way for a larger Northgate Street. (2)

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1872-1875, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH6780.

<2> Lewis C.P & Thacker A.T. (eds), 2005, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume Vii, The City of Chester - The City of Chester, Culture, Buildings, Institutions, p17 (Book). SCH6522.

<3> de Lavaux, A, 1745, Plan of the City and Castle of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH5255.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1872-1875, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH6780.