Coopers' Hall, London

Coopers' Hall
Middlesex
Coopers' Hall, London
Type:	Livery hall
Location
Grid reference:	TQ33378151
Location:	51°31’0"N, 0°4’45"W
City:	London
History
Address:	Devonshire Square
	Livery hall
Information
Owned by:	The Worshipful Company of Coopers

Coopers' Hall is the livery hall of the Worshipful Company of Coopers; one of the livery companies of the City of London, founded to support the trade of coopers – barrel-makers.

The Company received its first Royal Charter of incorporation in 1501. The first guild hall for the company was founded in the Bassishaw City ward in 1522, held at The Swan tavern. Only from 1547 did the company have a purpose-built livery hall. The hall was hired out for feasts by other companies and religious groups, and was used for drawings of government lotteries.

A lottery drawing at Coopers' Hall

This Tudor hall was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666 but subsequently rebuilt on the same site. The Company rebuilt its hall again in 1865, selling a part of the site to the Corporation of London for the expansion of Guildhall.

This second hall was destroyed by fire on the night of 29 December 1940, after a German air raid, part of the Blitz. The livery then shared quarters with other Companies until purchasing their current headquarters in Devonshire Square, off Bishopsgate.

The Coopers' Company ranks 36th in the order of precedence of all the Livery Companies.

Outside links

• The Worshipful Company of Coopers