London’s first Exchange, a copy of the Antwerp Stock Exchange, was built on this site between 1566 and 1567 by Flemish workers, on the initiative of rich Bishopsgate haberdasher Thomas Gresham. The building burnt down in 1666. The present neo-Classical style Royal Exchange was opened by Queen Victoria in 1844 and operated until 1939. The building today houses restaurants and exclusive boutiques.