Changing fortunes of Witney Corn Exchange

By the turn of the century, it was in regular use as a concert hall and theatre, and in 1992 added films to its repertoire.

Sadly the building has stood locked up and silent since November 2011, due to structural problems.

From being a symbol of wealth, it has come to symbolise the death of traditional local industries and the yawning gap between Witney’s cultural scene and that of surrounding towns and villages.

Robin Martin-Oliver, a former opera singer and director who now runs the Stagecoach School in Witney, has put on shows at the Corn Exchange in the past – including Godspell and The Merry Widow – and is saddened by its closure and the impact this has had on the arts.

“Witney is the only town of any size in Oxfordshire that has nothing,” he says. “It’s a black hole for the arts. There is some ad hoc stuff, with people doing a little bit of theatre, but essentially there is zero.”

The Corn Exchange was built during a time of great optimism, when the corn trade was expanding to such an extent that the old Corn Returns Office, which dated back to the Tudor age, was no longer deemed large enough and the magnificent, Palladian-style Corn Exchange was built in its place.

Corn milling in Witney dates back at least as far as the 11th century, with the Domesday Book recording two corn mills in the town.

The industry continued to flourish throughout the Middle Ages, alongside the rise of the cloth and blanket-making industries, with glove-making also thriving.

The town supported the Parliamentarian side during the Civil War and emerged virtually unscathed, its industries and wealth intact.

By the beginning of the 19th century locally-grown barley was feeding a flourishing brewing industry, while the opening of a railway line from Oxford in 1861 further increased local prosperity, as coal to fuel steam-driven machinery could now be delivered to the mills cheaply and efficiently.

Two years later the Corn Exchange was built in the Market Square, a very public statement of the success of the corn trade at the time.

Built from limestone, the two-storey building featured an arched doorway, balcony, mullioned windows and a gabled roof, ornately decorated with rusticated pilasters, cornices, ball finials and some fine carvings.

It was financed by a private company, whose board of directors included one of Witney’s foremost blanket makers, Edward Early.

Before long the new building was increasingly being used for social events, as the Town Hall was in a poor state of repair.

And as the corn trade declined during the 20th century, the Corn Exchange became increasingly important as a venue for the arts and other public events.

When Queen Victoria died in 1901, a concert was held at the Corn Exchange on Easter Monday which included, according to the Witney Gazette, “a display of animated pictures of Queen Victoria’s funeral”.

In November that year, in what would now be rightly seen as unacceptable, the Corn Exchange hosted an entertainment by the Witney Nigger Troup.

The occasion seems to have been a success, although it did not pass without incident, as the Witney Gazette reported: “There was a crowded house to hear the performance, which consisted of comic and sentimental songs etc, most of which were well received.

“The bad behaviour of a certain portion of the audience prevented many from enjoying the entertainment, and we suggest that at the next performance the presence of a policeman would prevent the repetition of the rowdyism experienced on this occasion.”

Less controversial entertainments continued throughout the 20th century.

The Witney Orchestral Society made regular appearances after its formation in 1905, and much later the Corn Exchange became home to the Witney Dramatic Society.

During the war, Witney was home to large numbers of evacuees from London, and Christmas 1939 saw the building playing host to a lavish party for evacuee children, complete with Christmas tree, a Punch and Judy show and a visit from Father Christmas.

The Corn Exchange was given Grade II-listed status by English Heritage in 1970.

The building was substantially restored in 1979 before being reopened as a public hall for meetings, social events and the arts.

In 1992 it was equipped to show films, providing a welcome replacement for the former Palace Cinema.

In recent years, sadly, the Corn Exchange has become increasingly dilapidated, and in November 2011 the town council took the decision to close the building after a safety inspection report revealed major problems with the ventilation and heating.

Further investigations found that the electrical wiring and the fire exits breached safety regulations, the balcony was in a serious state of disrepair, and there were problems with rising damp.

The cost of refurbishing the building as “a modern, purpose-built town centre venue” was estimated at £1.5m, and the town council hoped to reopen it within 18 months.

Two years on, the Corn Exchange remains closed, and with an initial bid for Heritage Lottery funding turned down, progress towards a solution is painfully slow.

Council plans now include selling Langdale Hall to help fund the Corn Exchange renovation, using £400,000 from its reserves to modernise the wiring and heating, and then applying for a more modest grant from the Heritage Lottery Enterprise Fund next year.

Meanwhile, some refurbishment has been carried out to the frontage — including the restoration of the clock, which was installed in 2000 by Witney clockmaker Steve Fletcher, but which has been inaccurate for some time, due to the failure of its mechanism to restart after power cuts. The new mechanism will ensure it keeps time accurately in future.

The future of the Corn Exchange is still uncertain, but hopefully this historic building, the hub of Witney’s social and industrial life for so many years, will burst back into life, becoming once again a lively, flourishing venue, that will resume its rightful place at the heart of the community.