Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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In the Strand; built, under the auspices of James I., in 1608, out of the stables of Durham House, the site of the present Adelphi. The New Exchange stood where Coutts’s banking-house now is. “It was built somewhat on the model of the Royal Exchange, with cellars beneath, a walk above, and rows of shops over that, filled chiefly with milliners, sempstresses, and the like.” It was also called ” Britain’s Burse.” ” He has a lodging in the Strand … to watch when ladies are gone to the china houses, or to the Exchange, that he may meet them by chance and give them presents, some two or three hundred pounds worth of toys, to be laughed at”—Ben Jonson, The Silent Woman, act i. sc. 1.
Wheatley: The New Exchnage on the south side of the Strand, built on the site of the stables of Durham House. The first stone was laid June 10th, 1608, and the new building was named by James I. “Britain
The New Exchange would have been near the northeast corner of this segment of the 1746 map, south of the Strand, about where Durhan Yard is. http://www.motco.com/map/81002/SeriesSearchPlatesFullb.asp?mode=query&artist=384&other=337&x=11&y=11
The New Exchange.
“At that time there was, on the south side of the Strand, a kind of bazaar called the New Exchange; the buildings of the Adelphi now cover its site. It was opened in 1608 by James I, who named it ‘Britain’s Burse,’ but in popular parlance it never received any other designation than the New Exchange. It consisted of four rows or walks—two on the ground-floor, and two upstairs, each being lined with small shops, where all kinds of fancy articles were sold. As a place to lounge in, to walk, and talk, and hear the news, as our American cousins say, the New Exchange succeeded to Paul’s Walk; but, with this difference, Paul’s Walk was only used by gentlemen; while the shops in the New Exchange being especially devoted to the sale of gloves, perfumes, fans, and other feminine necessities or luxuries, its walks were frequented by the gay and fashionable of both sexes. Many scenes in our old comedies are laid in this place; and most old libraries contain whity-brown pamphlets, entitled News from the New Exchange, or New News from the New Exchange; but as in most of these scurrility and indecency take the place of wit and humour, the less we say about them the better.”
http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/july/10.htm