The bays were separated by full-height Corinthian order pilasters supporting an entablature, a cornice and a modillioned pediment containing carvings of gilded sheaves, a pitchfork and a sickle in the tympanum.

[5] The building also became the main public events venue for the town: early visitors included the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, who have a speech about education to the Romsey Labourers' Encouragement Association in January 1865.

[6] His step-son, William Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple, whose seat was at Broadlands, paid for a drinking fountain, which was placed outside the building in 1886.

[7] The use of the building as a corn exchange declined significantly in the wake of the Great Depression of British Agriculture in the late 19th century.

Tenants introduced at that time included a branch of Barclays and a grocery business, Hook Brothers.