Corn Exchange, Ross-on-Wye

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Corn Exchange, Ross-on-Wye, is a historic building on High Street in Herefordshire, England. It was built in 1862 to a design by Thomas Nicholson in the neoclassical style, using ashlar stone. It is a Grade II listed building, officially known as 7, High Street. Local businessmen formed the Ross Corn Exchange and Public Buildings Company to fund the project. The front is asymmetrical with six bays; the left side has a round-headed carriage entrance and a round window above it, and the right side has round-headed openings and sash windows with pediments. Inside, the main rooms are at the rear: a ground-floor market hall and a first-floor assembly room. The building’s use as a corn exchange declined in the late 19th century, but it stayed in use for public events, including performances by the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. In 1922 it was converted into a cinema called The New Theatre, but a fire damaged it in 1939. After World War II, the front ground floor became a drapery and then a car showroom, while the rear area became a car repair workshop. Ross-on-Wye Town Council later used part of the front for offices and meetings. In 2010 the front ground floor became the Rossiter Books branch. The rear area was later turned into a licensed event space and a microbrewery by the King’s Head Hotel owners in 2022. The building also contains a portrait of John Kyrle, the local philanthropist known as The Man of Ross.