In the mid-1830s, a group of local businessmen decided to form a private company, known as the "Winchester Corn Exchange Company", to finance and commission a
corn exchange for the town. The site they selected was open ground which had been occupied by a garden known as "Forstersplace" in the 15th century. The new building was designed by
Owen Browne Carter in the
Italianate style, built in yellow brick with stone dressings at a cost of £4,000 and was completed in 1838. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of eleven bays facing onto Jewry Street with the end bays projected forward as
pavilions. The central section of three bays featured a
portico formed by four
Tuscan order columns supporting an
entablature, a
cornice with wide
eaves and a
modillioned
pediment. The wings were fenestrated by round headed windows with
voussoirs and, at roof level, there was a central bell
turret. Describing the front of the building, ''
The Gentleman's Magazine'' said that Carter had "endeavored to avoid the flimsy effect of the modern Grecian school, and to keep in view the more legitimate style of design inculcated by
Palladio in Italy, and at home by our own countrymen, Jones and
Wren." The use of the building as a corn exchange declined significantly in the wake of the
Great Depression of British Agriculture in the late 19th century. It was converted for use as a roller-skating rink in 1906, as a theatre in 1915 and then as a cinema in 1917. After that, it became a dance hall in 1922, a cinema again in 1933 and finally a public library in 1936.
Hampshire County Council took over management of the building in 1974. A further programme of refurbishment works, costing £715,000, leading to the re-branding of the building as a "Cultural Hub" was completed in February 2022. Space in the building was reconfigured to make more space for exhibitions on the mezzanine floor, but the library continued to occupy most space. The Hampshire Cultural Trust took over the management of the building, which was re-branded as "The Arc", at that time. ==See also==