Cutlers' Hall - Cloak Lane, London, UK
N 51° 30.696 W 000° 05.504
30U E 701800 N 5710729
This blue plaque, for the site of Cutlers' Hall, is on the south side of Cloak Lane, a narrow street that runs west from Cannon Street railway station.
Waymark Code: WMJ64D
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/30/2013
Views: 2
The blue plaque, that is rectangular in shape, reads:
The Corporation of
Site of
Cutlers' Hall
1416 - 1883
rebuilt after the
Great Fire 1666
The City of London
The Worshipful Company of
Cutlers website tells us:
A ‘House of the Cutlers’, mentioned in 1285 as being
on or near the site of the present Mercers’ Hall, is the earliest recorded
regular meeting place of the Cutlers. By the early part of the 15th century
the Cutlers were settled in a building in what is now Cloak Lane (by Cannon
St. Station). The Company still holds the Conveyance of that Hall which
describes the property as being ‘next to the tenement formerly belonging to
the famous Richard Whityngton, sometime Mayor’. The hall was quite
substantial and had a garden with a well and a vinery. In 1660, after some
250 years, the Hall was in need of extensive repairs and modernisation, and
it was determined to rebuild it completely. By June 1666 the final bills had
all been paid, but three months later it was completely destroyed in the
Great Fire of London. The Company quickly set about rebuilding and the new
Hall was ready for use in September 1670. This Hall was occupied for over
200 years until 1882 when the Metropolitan and District Railway Company
acquired most of the site by compulsory purchase. The fifth and present Hall
was built on land in Warwick Lane, which had been the site of the Royal
College of Physicians from 1674 to 1825 and subsequently a foundry. The new
Hall was designed by Mr. T. Tayler Smith, the Company’s Surveyor, and came
into use on March 7th 1888.
The same website
tells us about Cutlers:
The Cutlers’ Company is one of the most ancient of the
City of London livery companies and received its first Royal Charter from
Henry V in 1416. Its origins are to be found among the cutlers working in
the medieval City of London in the vicinity of Cheapside. As was the case
with the other trade guilds of the day, its function was to protect the
interests of its members, to attend to their welfare, and to ensure that
high standards of quality were maintained. Their business was producing and
trading in knives, swords, and other implements with a cutting edge. Over
time the emphasis shifted from implements of war to cutlery and other
domestic wares such as razors and scissors.
With the demise of the sword making and cutlery trade in the City during the
19th. century, the Company directed its attention towards supporting the
surgical instrument trade by indenturing apprentices, and expanding its
charitable activities with particular emphasis on supporting education.
Today the Company combines these charitable endeavours with maintaining the
traditions of the City of London; supporting the Mayoralty; providing
fellowship and hospitality; and preserving the Company's Hall and other
assets for the benefit of future generations. With a livery of only 100
members, many of whom have been admitted by patrimony, it is in every sense
a family Company and one which is justly proud of its ancient heritage and
ancestry.
Blue Plaque managing agency: The Corporation of the City of London
Individual Recognized: Cutlers' Hall
Physical Address: Cloak Lane London, United Kingdom
Web Address: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:To log an entry for a "Blue Plaque," please try to include a picture of you next to the plaque!
Recent Visits/Logs:
There are no logs for this waymark yet. |
|
|
|