Livery Hall, Drapers' Hall, City of London
The present Hall, situated in Throgmorton Street, was bought from King Henry VIII in 1543 for the sum of 1,800 marks (approximately £1,200). This had been the house of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex and Chief Minister to Henry, but had been forfeited to the King on Cromwell's execution in July 1540.
Destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666, Drapers’ Hall was rebuilt between 1667 and 1671 to designs by Edward Jarman. In 1772, it was again rebuilt after a fire which did considerable damage and, in the 1860s, the frontage was changed and the interior altered by Herbert Williams. It was later altered once more in 1898-9 by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson.
The Livery Hall was enlarged to its present size by Herbert Williams in the 1860s. The twenty-eight marble columns provide ideal spaces for the display of the Company’s collection of royal portraits including King William III by Sir Godfrey Kneller, George III by Sir Nathanial Dance and George IV by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
In 1901 the Company commissioned Herbert Draper, a neo-classical painter who had recently been awarded a gold medal by the Royal Academy, to create paintings for the Livery Hall ceiling panels. These were produced between 1903 and 1910.
The Company was at first uncertain whether the artist’s choice – scenes from The Tempest and A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream was appropriate but the artist persevered and completed the remaining space with representations of History, Science, Ethics and Literature.
The tradition that the members of the Company dine together dates from 1371 when it was ordained that 'the brotherhood shall hold their feasts wheresoever they shall agree in common'.
Livery Hall, Drapers' Hall, City of London
The present Hall, situated in Throgmorton Street, was bought from King Henry VIII in 1543 for the sum of 1,800 marks (approximately £1,200). This had been the house of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex and Chief Minister to Henry, but had been forfeited to the King on Cromwell's execution in July 1540.
Destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666, Drapers’ Hall was rebuilt between 1667 and 1671 to designs by Edward Jarman. In 1772, it was again rebuilt after a fire which did considerable damage and, in the 1860s, the frontage was changed and the interior altered by Herbert Williams. It was later altered once more in 1898-9 by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson.
The Livery Hall was enlarged to its present size by Herbert Williams in the 1860s. The twenty-eight marble columns provide ideal spaces for the display of the Company’s collection of royal portraits including King William III by Sir Godfrey Kneller, George III by Sir Nathanial Dance and George IV by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
In 1901 the Company commissioned Herbert Draper, a neo-classical painter who had recently been awarded a gold medal by the Royal Academy, to create paintings for the Livery Hall ceiling panels. These were produced between 1903 and 1910.
The Company was at first uncertain whether the artist’s choice – scenes from The Tempest and A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream was appropriate but the artist persevered and completed the remaining space with representations of History, Science, Ethics and Literature.
The tradition that the members of the Company dine together dates from 1371 when it was ordained that 'the brotherhood shall hold their feasts wheresoever they shall agree in common'.