Grocers' Hall
| Grocers' Hall | |
|
Middlesex | |
|---|---|
 Grocers' Hall on Prince's Street | |
| Type: | Livery hall |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ32658120 |
| Location: | 51°30’51"N, 0°5’23"W |
| City: | London |
| History | |
| Built 1893 | |
| Livery hall | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | The Worshipful Company of Grocers |
| Website: | grocershall.co.uk |
Grocers' Hall is the livery hall of the Worshipful Company of Grocers, one of the 110 livery companies of the City of London. The Company's fifth livery hall, after the destruction of centuries, today's Grocers' Hall stands on Prince's Street in the City, next to the Bank of England.
Amongst all the livery companies, the Grocers' Company ranks second in order of precedence due to its ancient foundation, having been established in 1345. The Grocers comprise one of London's Great Twelve City Livery Companies.
The Hall provides banqueting and conference facilities.[1]
History
The company
The company was founded in the 14th century by members of the Guild of Pepperers, which dates from 1180.[2] The Company was responsible for maintaining standards for the purity of spices and for the setting of certain weights and measures. Its members included London's pharmacists, who separated forming the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in 1617.
The guild was known as the Company of Grossers from 1373 until 1376 when it was renamed the Company of Grocers of London. It received a Royal Charter in 1428 from King Henry VI.[3]
Today, the Grocers' Company exists as a charitable, constitutional and ceremonial institution
Hall
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The earliest known Grocers' Hall was in Poultry, then known as Conningshop-lane on account of the three conies or rabbits hanging over a poulterer's stall in the lane. It was built in 1428 on land once owned by Lord Fitzwalter and let out "for dinners, funerals, county feasts and weddings."
The roof and woodwork of the hall were destroyed in the 1666 Great Fire of London and afterwards a new roof was erected on the old walls while Sir John Cutler, 1st Baronet paid for a new parlour and dining room. The hall was again renovated in 1681 by the future Lord Mayor of London, Sir John Moore.
Between 1798 and 1802 a new hall was built on the same site when part of the garden was sold to the Bank of England for the expansion of nearby Prince's Street.[4] However, frequent and extensive repairs were required due to defective foundations in the building, which was replaced by a fourth hall, completed in 1893 on Prince's Street.
The hall survived the Blitz with only minor damage to its north wing, but was almost completely destroyed by a fire in 1965, apparently caused by a lightbulb left on in the grand staircase beneath an oak lintel which smouldered and eventually caught fire.
A fifth and final hall was constructed nearby in 1970, also on Prince's Street, which remains the Grocers' home today.
Outside links
References
- ↑ 'A Modern Interpretation of Classic Cuisine: A Culinary Experience at the Grocers’ Hall': London Launch, 24 April 2007
- ↑ 'The Worshipful Company of Grocers'; Jean Bellamy in 'TimeTravel-Britain.com' Magazine, July–September 2006 issue}}
- ↑ The Worshipful Company of Grocers: Arms & History: Heraldic Media Limited
- ↑ Timbs, John (1855). Curiosities of London: Exhibiting the Most Rare and Remarkable Objects of Interest in the Metropolis. D. Bogue. p. 397. https://archive.org/stream/curiositiesoflon00timbrich#page/397/mode/1up.
- Heath, John Benjamin: 'Some Account of the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London' (London: W. Marchant, 1829 (via Google Book Search)
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