The London Stock Exchange

The Stock Exchange building is now in Paternoster Square. It moved here in 2004 to smaller premises because with the modern technology available the trading floor, and face to face dealing was no longer needed. Indeed, at the time of writing (2009) only two organisations still use face to face trading. They are the Metal Exchange and Lloyds. I am no way familiar with the financial goings on in the City or with stocks and shares and for that reason this is simply a brief history of how it came about. The Stock Exchange itself in not involved with the selling of Stocks or Shares, as far as I understand, but monitors the organisations that are. Like many of today’s large financial institutions in the City of London it started off centuries ago with a small group of like minded businessmen using the same coffee house.

Dealing in shares has been going on in the City of London since the mid 1500’s. Two companies were set up at that time, The Russia Company and the Africa Company, and shares in stock were bought by private businessmen. Sometimes shares were auctioned.
As the years went on many more companies were formed and at the end of the 17th. century there were around a 150. Brokers used coffee houses to do their business. The most famous of these being Jonathan’s and Garroways. Although some tried to regulate the system there were bound to be dodgy dealings and financial losses. The most famous of these was the South Sea Company that amassed millions of pounds and led to the “South Sea Bubble”. In 1720, unfortunately for some, this bubble burst and many rich investors were ruined. Share prices fell so rapidly that fortunes were lost. Even some embers of the government were among these.
In 1773 a group of brokers formed what they called the Stock Exchange in a building the bought in Threadneedle Street. It charged six pence a day to anyone who wished to use it.

After much disagreement about how it would be governed it was closed and a breakaway group of 11 brokers built a new Stock Exchange in Capel Court in 1801-2.
The last building in Capel Court was built in 1972. 26 floors high, it housed the Exchange until 2004 when they moved to Paternoster Square. When the building was empty it underwent a massive change over a three year period. You can see the results below.
On the wall of the new building is a modern Noon Mark. This represents the fact that trading never ceases around the world. As one Exchange closes in London another one opens in New York, and when that one closes at the end of the day the one in Japan takes over.
The shadow cast by the metal rod acts like a sun dial and shows the noon mark on the wall of the building. I’m afraid I don’t know the exact science of it but maybe you can work it out from the pictures I took of it.

In 2005 I noticed in the distance, a crane on the roof of the old London Stock Exchange building, which stood on the junction of Throgmorton and Threadneedle Streets. I also noticed part of the false roof structure that hid the machinery for lifts, heating etceteras, and water tanks was missing. I walked round to the front of the building and saw that the sign had gone. I later found out that the Stock Exchange had moved to Paternoster Square. I assumed they were going to demolish it and took a photo of the tower. I continued to take photos when passing, and was still taking them two years later. They only demolished the ground floor structure. The tower was being transformed into a completely different structure. It is fully completed now but as yet I haven't had a chance to photograph the finished structure. Watch this space!

I know. What a sad case I am, taking more than a hundred photos of the same building over a two year period, and still not finished! “Get a life” I hear you shouting!
It wasn’t that bad really, I just started taking the occasional shot as work progressed. Had I known it was about to happen I would have got a photo before they removed the tall framework that surrounded the rooftop.
It became a sort of habit really and I soon began to realise that they were not in fact demolishing it, but knocking bits off and replacing them with glass. I found it quite clever really, how they scaffolded from the top downwards. It’s something you can’t really put into words so if you really are that interested, then here are the old Stock Exchange photo galleries >>

The building work was still not finished at the time the last of these photos was taken (December 2007) but was fully completed by early 2009.
As soon as I can I will publish the final photos of the finished development.
Watch this space!