Photographs and text by Jacqueline Banerjee and George P. Landow. Formatting and perspective correction by GPL. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

The Hop Exchange. Listed Building. 24, Southwark Street, Bermondsey, Camberwell, Greater London SE1 0JF. 1866. Architect: R.H. Moore. Stuccoed with cast-iron columns. [Click on these images and those below to enlarge them.]

The interior is much more redolent of its earlier function. The promise of the grand exterior with its wonderful ironwork at the doorway is more than fulfilled by its vast, splendidly galleried central court. As the listing text says, there are "[c]ast-iron balconies to upper 3 floors with balustrades elaborately decorated with hop plant decoration and monograms." The stairs up from this former trading hall also have hop plants twining round the balustrades. The whole building makes a striking testimony to this part of London's thriving commercial past.

Left: The balustrades — upright elements of the stair railings — with their hop plants. Right: A different kind of ironwork framing the entrance.

Related Material

Resources

The Hop Exchange 24, BermondseyBritish Listed Buildings. Web. 19 October 2011.


Last modified 5 November 2011