The London Coal Exchange

This engraving originally appeared in volume II of Old and New London, published in the 1870s, although I scanned it from Victorian Taste, by John Gloag (1962).

The London Coal Exchange, Lower Thames Street, was built 1847-49 to the design of the City Corporation's architect, one James Bunstone Bunning (1802-63). Damaged during the war and effectively made redundant with the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947, it survived as offices during the 1950s. Although grade II listed in 1958 due to it's cast iron construction, it was demolished in 1962 to allow widening of Lower Thames Street, this despite a campaign for it's preservation headed by John Betjeman. The loss of this building, along with the Euston Arch the year before, were not total failures however, as they brought conservation to the public's notice and kick-started a movement that went on to save St Pancras station and many others. Ironically, the site of the building was to remain unused as the road plans were changed.