It was once the cultural centre of the town it stands in, but now a former Corn Exchange has been named the UK’s “poshest” branch of Wetherspoons.
The Corn Exchange in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, has been serving pints for 11 years now after the venue’s previous life hosting gigs, dances, roller skating and other events came to an end.
Artists including Slade, Desmond Dekker and The Clash played the venue during its heyday, with riotous scenes at the Clash gig leading the town council to effectively ban live music in the town for 20 years.
Before that the Corn Exchange was one of Suffolk’s key agricultural hubs regularly hosting farming markets and other trading events.
But now it has been named the UK’s “poshest” Wetherspoons by The Sun which looked at branches across the country before choosing the Suffolk site.
The newspaper praised its unique design features calling it “one of the fanciest in the country”.
Its profiler said: “The exterior Grecian columns remain, with its grand facade renovated and restored.
“Inside is a huge glass-domed ceiling with some of the column decorations protected by glass.
“Don’t worry about struggling for a table with the huge open-plan venue having lots of booths and tables.”
But some locals are not so keen on the beautiful boozer, with one user of the Bury St Edmunds’ Noticeboard on Facebook saying he would not set foot in the venue again until Wetherspoons was gone.
He said: “My late father was involved with saving the Corn Exchange – it’s a fantastic building. Sadly, I loathe Tim Martin and all he stands for, so will wait for a new tenant before I venture in again.”
But others said they thought the pub giant had done a good job in keeping the venue close to its roots.
Another poster added: “And the Spoons haters still knock it. It’s a sympathetic repurposing of a historic building.
“It may even be going back to its roots, as I’m sure a pint or two were drunk to seal a deal when it was the Corn Exchange back in the 1800s.”
