Royal Exchange Square

Royal Exchange Square is a public square in the City of Glasgow in Scotland. The square lies between Buchanan Street and Queen Street opening out at the junction of Queen Street with Ingram Street, just south of George Square. It is also easily accessible from Buchanan Street on the west side of the square, through two prominent archways, Royal Bank Place. The square is a landmark due to its distinguished architecture which attracts many visitors. Tobacco-lord William Cunninghame's mansion and gardens fronting Queen Street, and central to the future square, were constructed in 1778 when the wealth of Glasgow soon eclipsed the remainder of Scotland. Five years later the Royal Bank of Scotland opened in Glasgow, being its first-ever branch beyond its Edinburgh base. Under its agent, the merchant and philanthropist David Dale, the bank in Glasgow soon exceeded the business volume of the Royal Bank elsewhere and to reflect its status the bank moved from the area of Glasgow Cross by buying over Cunninghame`s mansion in 1817 and operating from it. In 1827 the Royal Bank sold the Cunninghame mansion to the city for fitting out as an Exchange and its new Glasgow Chief Office branch, designed by Archibald Elliot II, complete with its six pillars and wide stairs, was erected in 1834 facing onto Royal Exchange Square. In 1850 this was extended through to Buchanan Street. In the centre of the square is the former Royal Exchange, a Graeco-Roman masterpiece designed by architect David Hamilton in 1829, where merchants exchanged contracts in cotton, linen, chemicals, coal, iron, steel, timber and other commodities. In front of the portico is Baron Marochetti`s noble bronze equestrian statue of Duke of Wellington erected in 1844. On the tall granite base are bronze reliefs of the battles of Assaye and Waterloo, the Return of the Soldier, and Peace and Agriculture. From the 1950s the Royal Exchange housed Stirling`s Library and the Commercial Library and now houses the Gallery of Modern Art and an information centre and library.

Royal Exchange Square is a public square in the City of Glasgow in Scotland. The square lies between Buchanan Street and Queen Street opening out at the junction of Queen Street with Ingram Street, just south of George Square. It is also easily accessible from Buchanan Street on the west side of the square, through two prominent archways, Royal Bank Place. The square is a landmark due to its distinguished architecture which attracts many visitors. Tobacco-lord William Cunninghame's mansion and gardens fronting Queen Street, and central to the future square, were constructed in 1778 when the wealth of Glasgow soon eclipsed the remainder of Scotland. Five years later the Royal Bank of Scotland opened in Glasgow, being its first-ever branch beyond its Edinburgh base. Under its agent, the merchant and philanthropist David Dale, the bank in Glasgow soon exceeded the business volume of the Royal Bank elsewhere and to reflect its status the bank moved from the area of Glasgow Cross by buying over Cunninghame`s mansion in 1817 and operating from it. In 1827 the Royal Bank sold the Cunninghame mansion to the city for fitting out as an Exchange and its new Glasgow Chief Office branch, designed by Archibald Elliot II, complete with its six pillars and wide stairs, was erected in 1834 facing onto Royal Exchange Square. In 1850 this was extended through to Buchanan Street. In the centre of the square is the former Royal Exchange, a Graeco-Roman masterpiece designed by architect David Hamilton in 1829, where merchants exchanged contracts in cotton, linen, chemicals, coal, iron, steel, timber and other commodities. In front of the portico is Baron Marochetti`s noble bronze equestrian statue of Duke of Wellington erected in 1844. On the tall granite base are bronze reliefs of the battles of Assaye and Waterloo, the Return of the Soldier, and Peace and Agriculture. From the 1950s the Royal Exchange housed Stirling`s Library and the Commercial Library and now houses the Gallery of Modern Art and an information centre and library.