David Hodgson (1798 - 1864)

CHESTER EXCHANGE

Oil on canvas
Purchased with help from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund 1989.146

The Subject

The Exchange was built in 1695-8 in the Market Square, which is a widening of Northgate Street.   It was built of brick with stone quoins, and originally its upper floors were carried over colonnades at ground floor level.   Part of the ground floor was filled in for use as shops in 756, since the structure had become unsafe.   The Exchange was used by the Corporation for its meetings and courts, and there was also an assembly room for social events.   High up on the south front (shown in the painting) was a niche containing a statue of Queen Anne, which was subjected to acts of vandalism during election riots in 1784 and 1812.   The Exchange was severely damaged by fire on 30 December 1862 and had to be demolished, and the present Town Hall was built on a nearby site in 1865-9.   The building on the far left of the picture is the north end of Shoemakers' Row, which was rebuilt between 1897 and 1909.   The single storey buildings seen to the north and south of the Exchange had replaced open wooden structures; the Green Market (for vegetables) and Fish Market to the south was built after 1829, whilst the Meat Market (or Shambles) to the north was built after 1817.   These markets were subsequently replaced by a new Market Hall on a nearby site in 1863.   The tall Georgian building beyond the Meat Market is Folliott House, which still stands, although largely obscured by the Odeon Cinema of 1936.  The Row of half-timbered buildings on the far right of the painting actually stood at the south end of Northgate Street, but was presumably moved to this position by the artist for picturesque effect.

The Artist

David Hodgson was a painter of townscapes and architecture. He lived in Norwich, where he was a drawing master, Painter of Domestic Architecture to HRH the Duke of Sussex, and successively Secretary, Vice-President and President (1831) of the Norwich Society of Artists. He exhibited several Chester scenes in Norwich and in London at the British Institution and the Society of British Artists.   This painting is probably the 'Town Hall, Chester' exhibited in 1831 at the Norwich Society of Artists, and a preparatory drawing, dated 28 June 1830, is in the Norwich Castle Museum.