this structure was laid in 1749, and the hall was opened in 1754. It is an
elegant stone building, having two fronts; one towards Castle-street, the
other towards the area formed by the New Exchange Buildings. Each front
consists of an elegant range of Corinthian columns, supporting a pediment,
and are themselves supported by a rustic base. Between the capitals are
heads, and emblems of commerce in basso-relievo; and on the pediment of
the grand front is a noble piece of sculpture representing Commerce
committing her treasures to the race of Neptune. The ground floor of this
building was originally intended as an Exchange for the accommodation of
the merchants, with insurance offices adjoining; but was never used for
that purpose, the merchants prefering to meet in the open street opposite
the building. Since its erection a considerable addition was made to it on
the north side, and some progress towards extending and improving the
rooms and offices within the building, when the fire in 1795 destroyed the
whole of the interior. After this destructive accident the corporation
determined to rebuild the interior upon a new and extended plan, and to
appropriate the whole of the building to the purposes of judicial and
other offices for the police of the town, a mansion for the mayor, a suit
of public assembly rooms, and for offices for the general corporation
business. All the offices, rooms, and passages, on the basement and ground
stories, are now arched with brick, as a security against any future fire.

The Exchange Buildings form three sides of a quadrangle, 194 feet by 180
in the clear space, with arcades or piazzas in front, and the whole is in
a style of architecture corresponding with the north front of the
Town-Hall and Old Exchange, which forms the fourth side of the square at
the head of Castle-street. The east side of these buildings on the ground
floor, contains a coffee-room, 94 feet by 52, with appropriate rooms and
offices for the keeper, &c.; on the second story over the coffee-room, is
a room for the under-writers, upon the principle of Lloyd's in London, 72