The ground plat of this building is 203 feet in length; 171 feet in breadth, and the area in the middle is 61 square perches. This area is surrounded with a substantial and regular stone building, wrought in rustic. In each of the principal fronts is a piazza, and in the center are the grand entrances into the area, under an arch which is extremely lofty and noble; on each side that of the principal front which is in Cornhill, are Corinthian demi-columns supporting a compass pediment; and in the intercolumniation on each side, in the front next the street, is a niche with the figures of King Charles I. and his son Charles II. in Roman habits, and well executed. Over the aperture on the cornice between the two pediments are the King’s arms in relievo. On each side of this entrance is a range of windows placed between demi-columns and pilasters of the Composite order, above which runs a balustrade. The height of the building is fifty-six feet, and from the center of this side rises a lantern and turret, 178 feet high, on the top of which is a fane in the form of a grasshopper of polished brass, esteemed a very fine piece of workmanship: a grasshopper being the crest of Sir Thomas Gresham’s arms. The north front of the Royal Exchange is adorned with pilasters of the Composite order, but has neither columns nor statues on the outside, and instead of the two compass pediments has a triangular one. Within the piazzas of these two fronts are two spacious stair cases with iron rails, and black marble steps; these lead into a kind of gallery that extends round the four sides of the building, and in which were about two hundred shops, that have been let from 20_l._ to 60_l._ a year each; and a very considerable trade was carried on here; but it has long declined, and all the shops are deserted. One side of this gallery is employed as auction rooms for furniture, and in other apartments above stairs are the Royal Exchange Assurance office, &c. and in the vaults are the pepper warehouse of the East India company. The inside of the area is surrounded with piazzas like those of the south and north fronts; forming ambulatories for the merchants to shelter themselves from the weather. Above the arches of these piazzas is an entablature with curious enrichments; and on the cornice a range of pilasters with an entablature extending round, and a compass pediment in the middle of the cornice of each of the four sides. Under that on the north are the King’s arms; on the south those of the city; on the east those of Sir Thomas Gresham; and under the pediment on the west side the arms of the company of Mercers, with their respective enrichments. In these intercolumns are twenty-four niches, nineteen of which are filled with the statues of the Kings and Queens of England, standing erect, drafted in their robes and with their regalia, except the statues of Charles II. and George II. which are dressed like the Cæsars.