One of the great pleasures of writing this blog is that every now and again I get a nice surprise. In February of this year I wrote about the wonderful terracotta frieze on Cutlers Hall …
Subsequently, I received a kind invitation from Richard Herbert, a Past Master of the Cutlers’ Company, to visit the Hall and have a tour. We finally managed to get together last week and here’s my report.
At the front door I encoutered two of the literally hundreds of elephants that seem to occupy almost every corner of the building (including the soft furnishings!)
The cosy welcoming lobby …
Cutlers are known to have been practising their craft in London from at least the 2nd or 3rd century AD. Indeed, the word ‘cutler’ is derived from the Latin ‘cutellarius’ through the Old French ‘coutelier’ and signifies a maker or seller of knives and weapons with a cutting edge. Although cutlers traded in all manner of cutting instruments, it was their skill at producing fighting weapons that brought them wealth and prosperity. From earliest times until the end of the 16th century, with wars in France and internal civil wars, the demand for edged weapons was both constant and profitable. Only later did the emphasis shift from implements of war to cutlery and other domestic wares such as razors and scissors.
On 4th December 1416, the year following the battle of Agincourt, Henry V granted to the Company its first Royal Charter. This can be no coincidence, for the King had assembled his army in haste, and this was the only Livery Company to which he granted a Charter. One can speculate that the grant may have been made in part payment for arms supplied.
Stained glass in the entrance hall representing the granting of the Charter …
The Company continued to prosper, and in 1515 it was ordained that they should be placed 18th in the order of precedence of the City Companies, where they remain to this day. Over the years various monarchs have cancelled and reissued the Charter; the one under which the Company operates today was granted by James I in 1606 …
A ‘House of the Cutlers’ was recorded in 1285, just off Cheapside. By the early 15th century they had moved to a building on Cloak Lane, near Cannon Street. In 1660 their hall was in dire need of a rebuild, therefore the money was raised and the hall rebuilt on the same site. The final bills were paid in June 1666 only for the hall to be destroyed in the Great Fire of London three months later
Rebuilding started once again and the next hall was finished in 1670. Their bad luck continued however as, in 1882, the site was compulsorily acquired by the Metropolitan and District Railway Company and the hall was knocked down. This is when they moved to their current site and had their new hall built. The new Hall was designed by Mr. T. Tayler Smith, the Company’s Surveyor, and came into use on March 7th 1888. Above the door is the Cutlers’ Company French motto – To Succeed through good faith …
The coat of arms displays three sets of crossed swords, a reference to their trade …
At the top is an elephant with a castle on its back. This is a heraldic symbol representing strength, but also a nod to the ivory that would have once used in the handles of their cutlery. Thankfully, of course, the use of ivory today is illegal.
Their string of bad luck fortunately came to an end in World War Two. The Hall amazingly managed to survive the bombs of the Blitz that flattened much of the area around it. It was more or less just Cutlers’ Hall and St Paul’s Cathedral that survived in this corner of the City. A high explosive bomb did destroy the entire building next to it on the 10th May 1941, bringing down the hall’s North wall. The damage however was repaired and the hall brought back into use …
My tour of the building was conducted by Beadle Tiago Lucas whose enthusiasm and vast knowledge of the building and the Company made this a real treat. Space doesn’t allow me to repeat all I saw and learnt here so here are some highlights.
Every December brings the traditional ‘Feast of the Boar’s Head’, commemorated here in this painting …
… and by this chap who greets you on the way up the stairs …
At the foot of the stairs …
The Hall is home to a number of very interesting collections.
Graham duHeaume excavated nearly 900 knives from the foreshore of the River Thames between 1970 and 1986. He generously donated the bulk of his collection to the Company in 2020 …
Examples of beautifully carved handles and, in the drawers beneath, the Company also possesses a fine collection of City of London, Livery and Guild-related medals and badges from their origins in the 17th. century to the present day …
You can view the collections in detail online here.
Presentation swords (with our reflection, whoops!) …
This exhibit tells a story …
Swords belonging to Viscount Montgomery of Alamein and The Duke of Cambridge …
Along with the latter’s interesting history …
A sword, said to have belonged to the son of King Edward III – Edward of Woodstock – better known as The Black Prince …
The magnificent Livery Hall, its main feature being its Victorian hammer beam roof …
Mounted high on the end wall above the canopy hangs a Barge Banner used for the Lord Mayor’s procession in 1763 when the Lord Mayor was Alderman Bridgen, a Cutler. The banner depicts the Arms of the Company and the City, Britannia, the Wand of Mercury, Roman Fasces and the Wand of Aesculapius …
The representation of the Stuart Arms is believed to date from about 1670-88 and to have been carved by a contemporary of Grinling Gibbons, who for a time resided in the Company’s premises at the ‘Belle Sauvage’ Inn on Ludgate Hill …
The hall has a fantastic selection of stained glass, for example cutlers going about their trade …
And Masters’ Coats of Arms from earlier Halls …
Right back to the seventeenth century, in fact …
Along with some vandalism, where an 18th century member has scratched his name on the glass, maybe using a diamond on a ring …
Not to be forgotten is the fact that charitable giving is an incredibly important part of the Company’s overall purpose and you can read more about this here. Also, you can use this link to read more about the annual Contemporary Cutlery Design competition along with images of winning designs. My favourite is the 2021 winner Hand by Anli Hou …
I enjoyed my visit enormously. The relatively small size of the Hall means it manages to perform a difficult trick. It is not only friendly and intimate, but also suitably impressive, representing the long and prestigious history of the Company.
You can read more about the Company and the Hall (which is available for hire) here.
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