Coal Exchange, Thames Street

(click image to enlarge)

Coal Exchange, Thames Street

Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (1793-1864)

Price

£3,000

Signed

Signed
Indistinctly inscribed with place names and the opening of the Lord's Prayer on reverse

Medium

Monochrome watercolour with pencil

Dimensions

4 ¼ x 6 inches

Illustrated

[James Elmes], London and Its Environs in the Nineteenth Century…Illustrated ... by Thomas H Shepherd, London: Jones & Co, 1828-31, (engraved by Robert Acon)

Exhibited

'Bliss Was It in That Dawn To Be Alive, 1750-1850',
Chris Beetles Gallery, London, October 2008, no 261;
'The London Show 1750-2025', Chris Beetles Gallery, London, March 2025

Originally published as an engraving by Jones & Co on 28 March 1829 (engraved by Robert Acon)

Coal was a major commodity at this time, London was heated almost entirely by coal and by 1848, approximately 3.5 million tons of coal was transported each year from coalfields in Northumberland and Durham to London, landing at Smart’s Quay near Billingsgate. In 1770 on Thames Street near Smart’s Quay, the Coal Exchange was established by the major coal merchants to regulate the coal trade in the capital. In 1805 a new building was built (as seen here in Thomas Hosmer Shepherd’s drawing). Then, in 1807 the exchange came under the control of the Corporation of London and became an open and free market regulated by Parliament.

'Coal Exchange
This building is situated in Thames Street, nearly opposite to Billingsgate, and is a neat and very convenient structure, for the use of dealers in the important article of coals, consisting of a very handsome front and quadrangle behind, where every branch of the coal business is transacted.'
London and Its Environs, 1829, page 80