Corn Exchange, Bedford
Encyclopedia
Bedford Corn Exchange is located on St Paul's Square in the Castle
area of Bedford
, Bedfordshire
, England
.
venue and meeting space, as well as a place of business
. The basement contained offices, cloakrooms, kitchen, hall keepers room and dining rooms. The build took two years and the total cost was £9,000. It replaced the 'Floral Hall' building across St Paul's Square which had been constructed in 1849.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra
used the Corn Exchange between September 1941 and July 1945 for public concerts which were broadcast to the nation. The BBC
Music and Religious Departments moved to Bedford when it became too dangerous for them to be based in London
or their wartime home, Bristol
. Around 400 musicians, staff and engineers moved to the town during World War Two.
In 1944, the BBC Proms came to Bedford. Since their birth they had been performed in The Queen's Hall
in London which was destroyed by bombs on 10 May 1941. They moved to the Royal Albert Hall
until that too became in danger and they transferred to the Corn Exchange for the rest of the 1944 season. The Corn Exchange played host to many star names during World War Two including Glenn Miller
, Bing Crosby
, Marlene Dietrich
, Vera Lynn
, Bob Hope
, Humphrey Bogart
, Gracie Fields
, David Niven
and Yehudi Menuhin
. During this time the Corn Exchange was also used as an Armed Forces Canteen.
In 1995, the Philharmonia
Orchestra began a residency at the Corn Exchange. It is still one of the homes of the orchestra
today.
s, singers, council meetings and corporate events. Performers at the venue for the Autumn 2011 season include Chris Addison
, Jim Davidson
, Marc Almond
, The Blockheads
, Ed Byrne
, Richard Durrant
, Dave Gorman
, Russell Kane
, Mike Harding
, Numberjacks
, Richmond Fontaine
, Steeleye Span
, Syd Lawrence Orchestra
and the Philharmonia
Orchestra.
The Corn Exchange also operates the Harpur Suite and the Bedford Civic Theatre
. These venues play host to many plays, performances and exhibitions including Bedford's Christmas Pantomime
.
Castle, Bedford
Castle is an electoral ward and area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England.The boundaries of Castle are approximately Bromham Road and Goldington Road to the north, Denmark Street and George Street to the east, Rope Walk to the south, with the Midland Main Line railway line and Ashburnam Road to the...
area of Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History of the Corn Exchange
The building (constructed in 1874) was designed to be a concertConcert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
venue and meeting space, as well as a place of business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
. The basement contained offices, cloakrooms, kitchen, hall keepers room and dining rooms. The build took two years and the total cost was £9,000. It replaced the 'Floral Hall' building across St Paul's Square which had been constructed in 1849.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
used the Corn Exchange between September 1941 and July 1945 for public concerts which were broadcast to the nation. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Music and Religious Departments moved to Bedford when it became too dangerous for them to be based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
or their wartime home, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. Around 400 musicians, staff and engineers moved to the town during World War Two.
In 1944, the BBC Proms came to Bedford. Since their birth they had been performed in The Queen's Hall
Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect T.E. Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it was the home of the promenade concerts founded by Robert...
in London which was destroyed by bombs on 10 May 1941. They moved to the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
until that too became in danger and they transferred to the Corn Exchange for the rest of the 1944 season. The Corn Exchange played host to many star names during World War Two including Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Vera Lynn
Vera Lynn
Dame Vera Lynn, DBE is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops...
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, Gracie Fields
Gracie Fields
Dame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...
, David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
and Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
. During this time the Corn Exchange was also used as an Armed Forces Canteen.
Philharmonia
The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
Orchestra began a residency at the Corn Exchange. It is still one of the homes of the orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
today.
Corn Exchange Today
The Bedford Corn Exchange is a multi-purpose venue holding over 800 events per year. These include concerts, comedianComedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
s, singers, council meetings and corporate events. Performers at the venue for the Autumn 2011 season include Chris Addison
Chris Addison
Chris Addison is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He is known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4...
, Jim Davidson
Jim Davidson (comedian)
Jim Davidson OBE is a British comedian, actor and television presenter. He has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to entertainment, particularly of British service personnel in conflict zones.- Biography :The son of a Glaswegian father, Davidson was born in...
, Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
, The Blockheads
The Blockheads
The Blockheads are an English rock and roll band. Originally fronted by vocalist Ian Dury as Ian Dury and the Blockheads, the band has continued to perform since Dury's death in 2000. Current members include Chaz Jankel , Norman Watt-Roy , Mick Gallagher , John Turnbull and Davey Payne...
, Ed Byrne
Ed Byrne
Ed Byrne is a Perrier Award-nominated, Irish stand-up comedian, voice over artist and actor. He has presented television shows Uncut! Best Unseen Ads and Just for Laughs, and is a regular guest on various television panel games...
, Richard Durrant
Richard Durrant
Richard Durrant, Dip RCM, ARCM, FLCM is an English guitarist & multi-instrumentalist. He studied guitar, cello, and composition at the Royal College of Music and has since performed a mix of all guitar styles - classical, pop, jazz, folk. He also runs the indie acoustic LongMan Records company...
, Dave Gorman
Dave Gorman
David James Gorman is an English author, stand-up comedian and presenter. He has performed comedy shows on stage in which he tells stories of extreme adventures and presents the evidence to the audience in order to prove to them that they are true stories...
, Russell Kane
Russell Kane
Russell Kane is an English writer, comedian, actor and media personality. In June 2006, he became the face of digital station Five US. He has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, winning the main prize in August 2010...
, Mike Harding
Mike Harding
Mike Harding is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet and broadcaster. He is known as 'The Rochdale Cowboy' after one of his hit records...
, Numberjacks
Numberjacks
Numberjacks is a children's television series in the UK for 4- to 5-year-olds shown regularly on CBeebies and occasionally on BBC2. It is produced by Open Mind Productions for the BBC and features a mixture of computer-generated animation and live action....
, Richmond Fontaine
Richmond Fontaine
-History:Formed in 1994, Richmond Fontaine started touring the Pacific Northwest live circuit to support their first three albums released on Cavity Search Records. Gradually gaining attention in the UK and Europe the band began regularly touring there. Most of the core musicians and producer JD...
, Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
, Syd Lawrence Orchestra
Syd Lawrence
Syd Lawrence , was a British bandleader from Chester, England, who became famous in the UK for his orchestra's Big Band sound, which drew on the 1940s style of music of Glenn Miller and Count Basie amongst others....
and the Philharmonia
Philharmonia
The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
Orchestra.
The Corn Exchange also operates the Harpur Suite and the Bedford Civic Theatre
Bedford Civic Theatre
The Bedford Civic Theatre is a theatre located on Horne Lane in the town centre of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England.The theatre is operated by the Corn Exchange, Bedford and hosts a variety of events, exhibitions and performances. Groups such as the Bedford Marianettes regularly produce plays and...
. These venues play host to many plays, performances and exhibitions including Bedford's Christmas Pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
.