Butchers' Hall

Butchers' Hall
Middlesex
Butchers' Hall
Type:	Livery hall
Location
Grid reference:	TQ31988163
Location:	51°31’5"N, 0°5’57"W
City:	London
History
Address:	Bartholomew Close
	Built 1960 / 2019
For:	The Worshipful Company of Butchers
	Livery hall
Information
Owned by:	The Worshipful Company of Butchers
Website:	Butchers' Hall

Butchers' Hall is the livery hall of the Worshipful Company of Butchers, one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The hall stands in Bartholomew Close, beside St Bartholomew's Hospital, in the City.

History

The Company claims descend from a tenth century guild, as tradition has it that in 975 it was written that in the Ward of Farringdon Without, there are "divers slaughterhouses and a Butchers' Hall where the craftsmen meet". Aside from this earlies hall, the first known livery hall of the Butchers' Company was located in Monkwell Street, from the second half of the 15th century.

A new hall was later established near St Bartholomew's Hospital; this was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666 (as were with forty-three other livery companies' halls. After this, in 1667 the Butchers' Company acquired as site in Pudding Lane (which had been where the consuming fire had begun) and built a new livery hall. History repeated itself locally and the new hall in Pudding Lane was again burnt down.

A new hall was built in Pudding Lane in 1829-30. However in 1882, this hall was compulsorily purchased by an Act of Parliament for the building of the Metropolitan District Line.

A new Butchers' Hall was built at the present site in Bartholomew Close from 1884–85. In 1915 it was hit by German bombs in a Zeppelin raid, but the hall survived. Finally in 1944, the hall was destroyed by a German V1 flying bomb.

In 1960 a new Butchers' Hall was built. Following completion of a Mansard roof in 1996 the hall was acclaimed as, “one of the first modern City Livery Halls to be built in London.” This hall lasted until 2015, and the redevelopment of the area of St Bartholomew's Hospital, which continues into 2019.

The new hall, intended to be opened in late 2019, will be in part a reconstruction of the 1960s hall but may also be seen as a whole new hall, incorporating features from its predecessor.

The Company

The Butchers' Company claims to be the oldest of the City's livery companies, as records indicate that an organisation of butchers existed as early as 975, in the reign of King Edgar. The Butchers' Guild, the direct predecessor of the present Company, was granted the right to regulate the trade in 1331. The Guild received a Royal Charter in 1605.

The Company ranks twenty-fourth in the order of precedence of City Livery Companies. The Company's Latin motto is appropriate to the trade: Omnia Subiecisti Sub Pedibus, Oves Et Boves, from the Book of Psalms:: 'Thou Hast Put All Things Under Man's Feet, All Sheep and Oxen'.

The Butchers' still, unlike other Livery Companies, continues to exist as a trade association for members of the industry, instead of evolving into an institution primarily dedicated to charity. However, the Company does contribute, like all Livery Companies, to various charities.

The Butchers' connections with the local area remain strong, many Liverymen working at Smithfield Market. The Australian High Commissioner and New Zealand High Commissioner are customarily granted the Honorary Freedom of the Company.

Outside links

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