Chelmsford, Children In The High Street 1898

Photo ref: 41504X

More about this scene

The situation resulted in the formation of a local Board of Health. Their headquarters, ironically, were in the same Middle Row house where the first cholera victims had died. The Board brought about swingeing changes in Chelmsford - although much of it was a question of getting the townspeople to alter things they were perfectly happy with. The members of the Board took steps to get the entire town properly drained, and to restrict animals wandering the High Street too freely on market-day. In 1851 the members of the Board finally shut off the conduit stream, and replaced the domed conduit-head rotunda with Judge Tindal's statue. From then on, Conduit Square and Back Lane became Tindal Square and Tindal Street, respectively. Market-day was also posing problems for the corn merchants. They were not satisfied that the new Shire Hall provided them with a suitable trading floor. Inside, the building was darkened and cluttered by dividing walls and architectural fripperies. They could only inspect their corn properly by taking it outside. The magistrates made an effort to improve the space, but it was not really a solution. Finally, a purpose-built Corn Exchange was erected in Tindal Square. It opened for business in June 1857, and was certainly a grand building. Its yellow-brick Italianate façade masked a long, glass-roofed trading-area. There were no more complaints about insufficient light. The architect was Frederic Chancellor, a Londoner.