понедельник, 29 марта 2010 г.

UNITED KINGDOM / England, Hertfordshire

Litle old market. Corn Exchange, Hitchin.
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Corn Exchange is the the most striking building on the Market Place. This Italianate building was completed in 1853 (for a price of 2000 pounds), shortly after the construction of the railway. With the arrival of the Great Northern Railway Hitchin became an important centre for grain trading. Bowmans - one of the country's largest remaining independent millers still have a large site at the charming nearby village of Ickleford to the North. This historic settlement is well known as it is bisected by the Roman trade route The Icknield Way and possesses a fine Norman church. Ickleford is one of several villages on the outskirts of Hitchin well worth a visit.
The origins of the grain trade go back a long way. In the sixteenth century, the town was said to be second to none for its grain market (especially wheat). Queen Elizabeth I is said to have replied to a Spanish nobleman, boasting of the vineyards of his country, that "My Hitchin grapes" (meaning malt) "surpass them, or those of any other country."

понедельник, 22 марта 2010 г.