A Lot of Activity at The Cornhill

Many years ago, when I started collecting pictures and books about Lincoln, this was one of the first postcards I bought.  Probably paid too much for it at the time but I was attracted by the colour and the image of Lincoln people going about their daily business.

It is often difficult to date old postcards within say 50 years, but the names of the businesses on this one allow us to date it within 8 years.  Using Lincoln trade directories I can see that Melbourn Bros were there by 1894 and moved to Brayford Head sometime before 1913.

Apart from Melbourn Bros there are two other businesses pictured which were there for at least the same period of time.  Joseph Hepworth and Son maintained their corner position from about 1890 until the 1980s when they became Next Plc.  Prior to that they were on the corner of High Street and Guildhall Street, where HSBC bank is now.

Peel Bros was a partnership between two corn merchants brothers, Alfred and Walter Peel.  Walter married Grace Melbourn, daughter of Newell Cecil Melbourn, wine and spirit merchant, in 1889.  Alfred married Amelia Robey, daughter of Robert Robey of Robey & Co, in 1885.  Alfred and Walters parnership was dissolved in 1906, Amelia acted as Alfred's attorney as he was seriously ill and died in 1907.  Peel Bros continued to trade from the Cornhill address until the 1950s.

There is a small sign with the word "HANSON" above the doorway next to Melbourns, that was John Robert Hanson, gun and cycle manufacturer.  Hanson moved to the Cornhill somewhere between 1897 and 1901, he died in 1904, at the age of 42, and there is no record of the business on the Cornhill in 1905 so it is probable that the business died with him.

The building with Corinthian pillars is the old Corn Exchange, built in 1848, it was soon found to be inadequate for the amount of the business that was conducted there.  In 1880 the new Corn Exchange was built to the left of the old building, the tower stood over the entrance.  In the mid 20th century, when not used as a Corn Exchange, it was a cinema and a roller skating rink.

To the right and at the back of the old Corn Exchange can be seen the "New" Market.  The rest of the picture is in heavy shadow but the Cornhill Hotel and the City Wine & Spirit Stores can be just made out.

Horse Fair at the Cornhill in 1910

The Cornhill in 1965 populated by Vauxhall, BMC group and Rootes group vehicles.

Lincoln's Markets

In this age of online and supermarket shopping, it is hard to think of a time before national retail chains when the Lincoln shopper had a wide choice of small businesses from which to buy their food. Street markets are one the oldest forms of retailing and Lincoln had a good choice of such markets.  

The Meat Market was on the High Street, it stretched from Dernstall Lock to St. Lawrence's Lane, near the King's Arms Yard.  This market moved in 1774 across Clasketgate (then known as Butchery Street) to an area called the Butchery; next to the earlier Crown Inn.  The Butchery had shops on its periphery with stalls in the centre, it also had its own slaughterhouse.  A cloth market, the Drapery, had existed on St Martin's Lane since the 13th century, it was then known as the Parmentaria.

Newland, the location of the Butter Cross

On Newland stood the Butter Cross, where other products such as milk and egg were sold. John Lobsey, Mayor of Lincoln in 1736, proposed that the Corporation suspend their Civic Banquet for 10 years in order to cover the cost of building a Butter Market that would offer protection from the elements. The Butter Market was built to the north of St Peter at Arches church, which stood on the corner of High Street and Silver Street. Before the building of the Buttermarket, the Skin Market or Peltry occupied part of the site.

If our Lincoln ancestors wanted to buy fish for their Friday dinner they would head for the fish market at Fish Hill (now Michaelgate), the market stood on the grounds of the present Chad Varah House, formerly the County Hospital. The fish market later amalgamated with the meat market at The Butchery. The Poultry Market was on the lower part of Steep Hill.

The 1847 Corn Exchange

Bread made from wheat was too expensive for the ordinary people, they would buy their bread ingredients from the oat market at the junction of High Street and St Mary's Lane (now Street). Unsurprisingly the corn market was on the site of the present Cornhill. This is where farmers would trade their produce.  In 1847 the first Corn Exchange was built on the Cornhill, this building included space on the ground floor for market stalls, relieving the congestion caused by stalls along the High Street from the Cornhill to the Butter Market.  A new building was erected to replace the Corn Exchange and market in 1879.  The Butter Market was demolished in 1938 and the front facade was incorporated into the New Market, where it still stands today.