The market-place, where the dealing in this mass of securities is
carried on, is by no means of imposing appearance from the exterior
point of view. Of all the Stock Exchanges, Bourses, and Bolsas
throughout the country and the world, the London Stock Exchange makes,
perhaps, the least exterior show. The tourist often seeks it in vain,
and thousands of Londoners pass it every day without knowing that behind
the suites of offices, with their Portland-stone walls relieved by
granite, is hidden the mighty market-place. Yet, for its purposes, the
Stock Exchange, or the House, as the members and even the Rules
affectionately term it, could not be better situated. It is in the very
heart of the City. Its west door, the Capel Court entrance, which is the
most important by tradition though not by usage, faces the eastern end
of the Bank of England, and the building occupies the greater part of
the triangle which has Bartholomew Lane for its base, Throgmorton Street
for its north side, and Threadneedle Street and Old Broad Street for its
south side, the apex of the triangle being formed by the junction of
Throgmorton Street and Old Broad Street.
As to the interior, it is without form, though anything but void in
business hours. There is no trace of the triangle to the insider, the
boundary lines being broken where the surrounding offices abut, or where
they have been swept away as opportunity offered for the extension of
the Stock Exchange proper. Although the site, including the surrounding
offices, occupies some 40,000 square feet, the Stock Exchange itself is
only about half that in floor area. The whole design of the interior
architecture, Italian in style, is marked by a good deal of solidity.
The walls are for the most part covered with marble, the peculiar
veining of which suggested the title, Gorgonzola Hall, by which the
Stock Exchange is sometimes known. Massive pillars, also marble, abound.
The floor is of teak, oak, which was formerly used, having been found of
insufficient durability to stand the wear and tear of the members' feet.
The feature of the interior architecture, however, is the dome, 70 feet
in diameter and 100 feet high, covering the central octagonal area.
Beneath the Stock Exchange proper, and extending to almost the same
area, is the Settling or Checking Room, the walls of which are lined
with oak panelling and glazed tiles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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