The guild was first known as the Fraternity of St Anthony,[11] then from 1373 as the Company of Grossers, until 1376 when it was renamed the Company of Grocers of London.[2] In 1428, two years after building its first hall in Old Jewry, the Company was granted a Royal Charter by King Henry VI of England.[3]
The term "grocer" originally had a meaning different from the current customary usage. It referred to a retailer who "traded in gross quantities" and, therefore, encompassed a wide variety of merchants.[12] This included manufacturers and purveyors of mathematical instruments.[13] The Worshipful Company of Grocers, more colloquially known as the Grocers' Company, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of London.
Grocers' Hall
The fifth and current Grocers' Hall on Prince's Street, London EC2The interior of Grocers' Hall, 1887
The earliest known Grocers' Hall was in Poultry, London, 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 and afterwards a new roof was erected on the old walls while Sir John Cutler paid for a new parlour and dining room. The Hall was again renovated in 1681 by the future Lord MayorSir John Moore. A new Hall was built on the same site between 1798 and 1802 when part of the garden was sold to the Bank of England for the expansion of nearby Prince's Street.[14] However, frequent and extensive repairs were required due to the third Hall's defective foundations, 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 fire in 1965, apparently caused by a lightbulb left on in the grand staircase beneath an oak lintel which smouldered and eventually ignited. The fifth and final Hall was constructed nearby in 1970, also on Prince's Street, remaining the Grocers' home today.
Symbols
The Ancient Guild of Pepperers chose a camel as its symbol due to pepper originally coming over land rather than sea.[15] The camel is incorporated as the crest of the company's heraldic achievement[16] which also includes two griffins holding the escutcheon (shield) on which is displayed the coat of arms: "Argent a Chevron Gules between nine Cloves six in chief and three in base Proper".
The Church of St Paul, Homerton, in Hackney was founded by the Company in 1890, but declared redundant in 1981:[21][unreliable source?][22] its edifice still displays the Grocers' arms.[21] St Paul's then united with St Barnabas' Church, Homerton. The Grocers' Company retains joint patronage of the advowson (right to nominate appointees to the church benefice) with the Bishop of London and the Trustees of All Souls, Clapton Common.
The Grocers' Company is responsible for the maintenance of Oundle School in Northamptonshire, which uses the Grocers' arms as its school badge. Other schools maintained by the Company are the Elms School in Colwall, Herefordshire as well as Reed's School whose Annual Foundation Appeal has been held at Grocers' Hall for over fifty years.[24] In 1876 the Company founded the Grocers' Company School, Hackney in the East End of London for the education of "sons of the middle classes". It was transferred under London County Council's control after that authority's formation in 1889, changing its name to Hackney Downs School; it closed in 1995. Hackney Downs depicted as its school badge a camel, for the Lower School, and a shield with cloves and the motto of the Grocers' Company for the Upper School. The "Camel and Cloves" are remembered to this day by Old Boys through the Clove Club. The Grocers' Company maintains close links with and is the principal sponsor of Mossbourne Community Academy, which is on the Hackney Downs site.[25]
↑"Statement by the Grocers' Company". City of London Livery Companies Commission Report. Vol.1. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1884. pp.267–275. Digitised by University of London, 2024 – via British History Online.
↑Jenstad, Janelle; Mclean-Fiander, Kim, eds. (2016). "Sir Richard Leigh". Civitas Londinvm. The Map of Early Modern London. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: University of Victoria.
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