Property English Heritage

Over the summer, television viewers were treated to a series hosted by the photogenic chief executive of English Heritage, Simon Thurley. In Lost Buildings of Britain, Mr Thurley made a bit of a fool of himself attempting to ‘recreate’ lost architectural treasures based on old drawings and other clues. One superb building which did not feature in this series was the historic Baltic Exchange in the City of London, described in its prime as ‘a veritable fairy palace’ and demolished three years ago. But Mr Thurley will not want to remind anyone of it, as its loss was entirely the fault of English Heritage.

When it was built to house a historic shipping exchange in St Mary Axe in 1903, the Baltic Exchange’s imposing facade was of Portland stone, and the baroque interiors were covered in the choicest marbles of Europe, including some from the quarry which had been used for St Peter’s in Rome.