Innholders' Hall

Innholders' Hall
Middlesex
Innholders' Hall
Type:	Livery hall
Location
Grid reference:	TQ32548082
Location:	51°30’39"N, 0°5’29"W
City:	London
History
	Built 1670, 1886
	Livery hall
	Jacoban-Restoration
Information
Owned by:	The Worshipful Company of Innholders
Website:	innholders.org.uk

Innholders' Hall is a Restoration-era building which stands in College Street, a narrow passageway between Cannon Street and Upper Thames Street in the City of London. It is the livery hall of the Worshipful Company of Innholders, one of the 110 livery companies of the City.

The Hall is a Grade II* listed building and a scheduled ancient monument.

The hall as seen today was built in 1670 and in the style of the time, though the front block was wholly or partly rebuilt in 1886. Alterations were made after the War, as the hall has suffered damage in the Blitz. Much survives from the 17th Century, including the Old Court Room and Great Hall.

History

The first Innholders' hall may have been that referred to in a public assessment document dating back to 1522 as standing on "Elbow Lane", as College street was then known, from its shape. This hall was destroyed in 1666, in the Great Fire of London. The Company's records were lost but the Hall’s fine silverware and the Company's Royal Charters were saved by the Master. Of this first hall, archaeological investigation undertaken in 1989 revealed a mediæval chalk wall built on beech piles.

By early 1670, in the reign of King Charles II, the Hall was rebuilt, and the most impressive elements of the current furnishings are from this period. In 1933, some fine wooden panelling was installed in the first floor New Court Room.

In May 1941, during the Blitz, a German incendiary bomb fell on a neighbouring building and the fire spread to Innholders' Hall, which would have been lost but for the swift actions of the fire brigade, though it took two hours to extinguish the blaze.

War damage repairs were finally completed in 1952 and in that same year the Hall became a listed building of historical importance. In the late 1980s the Company embarked upon an ambitious improvement and extension plan which closed the Hall for a year.

The company

The innholders were originally known as hostellers, but their name had changed by the time it was incorporated under a royal charter in 1514. The Company has, over the years, lost its status as an association of traders and businessmen, instead becoming, as have most of the other livery companies, an establishment dedicated primarily to charity.

The Innholders' Company ranks 32nd in the order of precedence amongst the livery companies.

Innholders' Hall in College Street

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Innholders' Hall)

• The Innholders' Company