The Royal Exchange is a building steeped in history. From its proud beginnings in 1565, to its glorious rebirth in 2001, this is a site that has always stood for trade. Indeed, archaeological evidence indicates that the site has been of importance since Roman times.

In 1892 the Gresham Committee proposed to fill the 24 large panels around the Ambulatory with paintings illustrating the history of the Exchange and the City of London. Each painting is approximately 22 feet tall and 11 feet wide, painted on canvas using a rare spirit fresco technique, which in turn is attached to slate then stuck onto the wall. Today the paintings vividly bring to life the history of the City of London and Royal Exchange.

A brief timeline of the Royal Exchange

In the early 16th Century, London was fuelled by commerce. From all over Europe, merchants came to trade their wares negotiating in shops, homes, taverns and even in the open street. Meanwhile in the great port of Antwerp, merchants had a base within which to trade – a Bourse.

Thomas Gresham, was a well-travelled merchant who for a while had made his home in Antwerp. He offered to build the City of London ‘a comely bourse’ at his own expense if they provided the land. The City welcomed the offer and by 1566 the present site was cleared and the work begun under a Flemish architect. The resulting building, adorned with the Gresham family crest of a grasshopper, was opened by Elizabeth I and was to survive until 1666, when the Great Fire of London swept it away.

In 1667, The Great Fire not only destroyed buildings it destroyed morale in London too. The architect, Edward Jerman, City Surveyor and Charles II swiftly agreed to rebuild as much as possible of the City better than ever, and particularly the much-loved Royal Exchange. The new building resembled the old in many ways – four arcades with upper storey lined with small shops and a central courtyard for trading.

As traditional shops and shopping drifted westward in the late 18th Century, business came in to fill the space left by their absence. In 1774 Lloyd’s also moved to the building, an association that was to last until 1928, and it was Lloyd’s that was to be the unwilling cause of the building’s second destruction by fire.

In 1842 Prince Albert laid the foundation stone for rebuilding, this time using the extra land that Gresham had always wanted but failed to secure. In 1844 the young Queen Victoria opened the new building in a great and lavish ceremony that underlined Royal Exchange’s importance to the City With the outbreak of the Second World War, trading at Royal Exchange virtually ended. However the building had survived the bombing, albeit with some near misses, and in 1953 a theatre company was established in the Courtyard. In 1991, Architects Fitzroy Robinson Partnership were briefed by GRE in the 1980s to refurbish the building and add additional floors in harmony with the original style.

Today this Grade I listed building has come full circle. In 2001 the Royal Exchange was once again extensively and sympathetically remodeled and became the home for many of the world’s finest merchants. 2004 saw the launch of the Grand Café and Bar to finally complete the building as a destination with both luxury retail outlets and sophisticated dining options in the heart of the city.