The Exeter Exchange was a building on the north side of the Strand

Strand, London

Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...

 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...

, with an arcade

Arcade (architecture)

An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....

 extending partway across the carriageway. It is most famous for the menagerie

Menagerie

A menagerie is/was a form of keeping common and exotic animals in captivity that preceded the modern zoological garden. The term was first used in seventeenth century France in reference to the management of household or domestic stock. Later, it came to be used primarily in reference to...

 that occupied its upper floors for over 50 years, from 1773 until it was demolished in 1829.

Exeter Exchange was built in 1676, on the site of the demolished Exeter House (formerly Burghley House and Cecil House

Cecil House

Cecil House refers to two historical mansions on The Strand, London, in the vicinity of the Savoy. The first was a 16th century house on the north side, where the Strand Palace Hotel now stands...

), London residence of the Earls of Exeter, almost opposite the Savoy. Around the same time, the nearby Burleigh Street and Exeter Street were laid out. The Exeter Exchange originally housed small shops (milliners, draper

Draper

Draper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer, of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...

s, hosiers) on the ground floor, and rooms above which were let to the Land Bank

Land Bank

A land bank is a bank that issues long-term loans on real estate in return for mortgages. This term could also apply to:*The Land Bank of Taiwan, a wholly state-owned bank of the Republic of China...

. Over time, the traders on the ground floor were replaced by offices, and the upper rooms were used for storage.
From 1773, the upper rooms were let to a series of impresario

Impresario

An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...

s who operated a menagerie

Menagerie

A menagerie is/was a form of keeping common and exotic animals in captivity that preceded the modern zoological garden. The term was first used in seventeenth century France in reference to the management of household or domestic stock. Later, it came to be used primarily in reference to...

 in competition with the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

. The menagerie at the Exeter Exchange included lion

Lion

The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

s, tiger

Tiger

The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...

s, monkey

Monkey

A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...

s, and other exotic species, all confined in iron cages in small rooms. The roaring of the big cats could be heard in the street below, occasionally scaring horses that passed by. It was owned by the Pidcock family and then Stephani Polito, both operators of travelling circuses, who used the Exeter Exchange as winter quarters for their animals. The menagerie was a popular visitor attraction. It was visited by Wordsworth and Byron; artists such as Edwin Landseer and Jacques-Laurent Agasse

Jacques-Laurent Agasse

Jacques-Laurent Agasse was an animal and landscape painter from Switzerland.Born at Geneva, Agasse studied in the public art school of that city. Before he turned twenty he went to Paris to study in veterinary school to make himself fully acquainted with the anatomy of horses and other animals...

 painted the animals.

Polito died in 1814, and the menagerie was acquired by one of his former employees, Edward Cross

Edward Cross (zoo proprietor)

Edward Cross was an English zoo proprietor and dealer in animals.Cross was born in London and baptised at St Andrew's, Holborn, presumably within days of his birth...

. Cross renamed the collection the Royal Grand National Menagerie, and employed a doorkeeper who was dressed as a Yeoman of the Guard. His bad-tempered elephant, Chunee, was shot there in March 1826 by soldiers from Somerset House

Somerset House

Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...

. When the Exeter Exchange was demolished in 1829, as part of general improvements to the Strand, the animals were dispersed to the new London Zoo

London Zoo

London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was eventually opened to the public in 1847...

 in Regent's Park

Regent's Park

Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...

 and Cross's new enterprise at Surrey Zoological Gardens.

Exeter Hall

Exeter Hall

Exeter Hall was a hall on the north side of The Strand, London, England. It was erected between 1829 and 1831 on the site of Exeter Exchange, to designs by John Peter Gandy, the brother of the visionary architect Joseph Michael Gandy...

 was built on the site, opening in 1831 and surviving until 1907. The site is now occupied by the Strand Palace Hotel

Strand Palace Hotel

The Strand Palace Hotel is a large hotel on the north side of the Strand, London, England, positioned between Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square and the River Thames. It was built after Exeter Hall was demolished in 1907...

.

External links

• History of Covent Garden
  Covent Garden
  Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
  
  , In And Around Covent Garden, 2004.
• Destruction of a Furious Elephant (Lithographic print, 6 March 1826)
• Destruction of the Noble Elephant (Hand-coloured print, c.1826)
• The Exeter Exchange, The Strand, London