The 300-year-old structure of a Bristol landmark hidden by a glass roof

The Bristol Corn Exchange is one of the most famous buildings in the city centre. Part of the busy St Nicholas Market, the building is steeped in history dating back hundreds of years and has a number of secrets for curious locals to discover.

The Corn Exchange was built in 1743 after the area had been used for trade since the 1300s, and one of its many secrets is its location below the market. There is, however, one more thing that not everyone will know about and that is the hidden roof on the Corn Exchange.

The glass roof that currently sits over the square was installed following World War II after the previous glass roof was shattered by a bomb. The new roof was installed at a lower level than the previous roof, meaning that the architecture of the original roof surrounds was lost to time.

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When the Corn Exchange was built, the original roof had grand architecture that would have been visible from the square below. The Egyptians were depicted looking down on the square and various other people can be seen on different parts of the roof above the glass roof.

On the walking tour of St. Nicholas Square and Air Shelter, you can enter the upstairs rooms that were used as film sets in the past. It is also the only place where you can still see the original roof and original drawings of the building.

Entering the rooms where you can see above the roof reveals what the roof would have looked like. The roof started above where the stone setting is today and would meet higher in the air creating a pyramid shape.

There were also additional rooms where the current roof is today along with a balcony area. Now this balcony area has been hidden and the square dominates the center of the building rather than the historic interior.

The decorations of the old roof are slowly rusting away, and the finer details have degraded over the past eight decades since it was seen by the public. The circular windows are now seen only by the few who are able to make their way to the rooms above the square.

The rooms even allow a great view of All Saints Church, which is next to the Corn Exchange. The church, which was last used for worship in 1984, was last used in 2015 as an office, but has been closed to the public since then.

For the roof structure that was once inside the Corn Exchange is now hidden outside the building and is unlikely to ever become part of the inner market. A piece of history that is now turning into another secret that the Corn Exchange is keeping.

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