Interior watercolour of one of the most impressive atria in London.
 
The Royal Exchange is London’s historic commercial landmark in the City, originally founded in 1571 by Sir Thomas Gresham as the UK’s first purpose-built trading center, inspired by Antwerp’s bourse. Queen Elizabeth I officially opened it, granting royal status and a license for alcohol sales, marking it as a hub for merchants dealing in global goods and stocks.
 
Three versions have stood on the Cornhill site. The first burned in the 1666 Great Fire; Edward Jerman’s Baroque second followed in 1669 but also perished in another fire. The current neoclassical structure, designed by William Tite and opened by Queen Victoria in 1844, features an eight-column portico echoing Rome’s Pantheon and intricate pedimental sculptures by Richard Westmacott Jr. depicting Commerce amid international traders.
 
Interesting facts
Circumnavigate the ambulatory galleries upstairs to find 19th-century murals by Ernest Normand and others depicting key London events, like “King John Sealing Magna Carta,” “Alfred the Great Repairing the City Walls,” and “The Great Fire of 1666.” Often missed by visitors focused on ground-floor luxury shops, these paintings were commissioned post-1838 fire to celebrate the site’s resilience.