CITYOFLONDON

THE CITY OF LONDON

The Freemen of London

The best known of the historic privileges of the freemen of the City of London is the right to drive sheep across London Bridge. However, within the Square Mile s boundaries they are also reputed to be free to draw a sword and to be drunk and disorderly.¹

Website: www.guild-freemen-london.co.uk

¹. Not a happy combination.

The Guildhall

The Guildhall is where the City of London is governed from and where the City Corporation holds many of its principal events, such as banquets and elections.

The building takes its name from the Knighten Guild, a religious body. Edward the Confessor granted the group a number of privileges in the 11^thC. It was dissolved during the following century. When the original hall had been built is unknown. The present one dates from the 15^thC. Wren gave it a flat roof, while Horace Jones made extensive changes to the structure.

A number of high-profile trials took place in the Guildhall. These included those of Lady Jane Grey (c.1537-1554) and Archbishop Cranmer (1489-1556).

Location: Gresham Street, EC2V 7HH (purple, yellow)

Website: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/attractions-museums-entertainment/guildhall-galleries/guildhall-great-hall www.guildhall.cityoflondon.gov.uk

The Impact of The Great Fire Upon The Government of The City of London

The rebuilding of the City after the Great Fire of 1666 placed the Corporation s finances under extreme pressure. In 1694 an Act of Parliament was used to bankrupt the local authority. One of the means that the Corporation then utilised to raise money was to auction off a number of its principal civic offices, e.g. the City Marshal and the Keeper of Newgate.

In the mid-18^thC control of the City s daily government shifted from the oligarchic Court of Aldermen to the more open democratic Court of Common Council.¹

As the century progressed the local authority bought back the offices it had auctioned off. By the time that Sir Robert Peel proposed setting up the Metropolitan Police Force (1829), the City was able to take the stance that it did not wish to have a constabulary that derived its powers from a House of Commons that was itself in need of being reformed (which was to happen with the Great Reform Act of 1832).

The City s government was so efficiently run that in 1837 it was the only local government corporation in England that the Municipal Corporations Commission did not regard as being in need of being changed.

¹. Within the City the Court of the Common Council is called CoCo.

Officials

See Also: BEER Ale-conners

Deputy Gauger

In 2006 Geoffrey Daish (1920-2010), a retired gas turbine engine engineer, was appointed to be the City s deputy gauger.

Sheriffs

One of the two sheriffs resides in a flat in the Old Bailey during her/his year in office. The official duties include unlocking to admit the judges.

Website: www.liverycommittee.org/about/city-of-london-corporation/the-lord-mayor/role-of-the-sherifs

Payments To The Crown

Each year the new Lord Mayor is sworn in at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Another annual City of London ceremony takes place there. In this, the Corporation acknowledges that properties that it holds the leases of are ultimately owned by the Crown. A billhook and a scythe are paid for the Moors estate in Shropshire and six horse shoes and sixty-one nails for a property known as The Forge in the parish of St Clement Danes (St Clement was the patron saint of blacksmiths). The procedure involves the City Solicitor going to the courts complex. There, s/he goes to the office of the Queen s Remembrancer and hands over a billhook and a scythe in payment for the Moors. The Remembrancer asks the Solicitor, How many shoes have you? The Solicitor counts out the six horse shoes and replies, Six shoes. The Remembrancer responds, Good number. The Remembrancer then asks the Solicitor how many nails does s/he have. The Solicitor counts out the nails and states, Sixty-one nails. The Remembrancer replies, Good number.

Until 1752 St Clement s Day was celebrated on 4 December. It was then switched to 23 November.

Location: The Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, WC2A 2LL (red, blue)

The Sentinel Dragons

By the side of the principal roads into the City of London there are a series of plinths. Upon these are pedestals that are topped by individual dragons. The creatures look outwards from the settlement. Their purpose is to deter from entering it those whom they judge to be undesirable. With one claw, each of the creatures supports a shield. The device sports the City s coat of arms. These are derived from the Cross of St George. In view of the fact that the knight became venerable for slaying a dragon this situation is analogous to Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI extolling the efficacies of Dr Guillotin s new chopping device. Some might take the view that the local authority is subjecting its sentinels to degrading terms of service.

Smithfield Voters

The character of the City s constitution came near to breaking point in 1994 when two separate elements felt driven to apply pressure upon the Corporation. Regulations that had originated in the European Union required alterations to be made to the Victorian halls of Smithfield Meat Market. The local authority sought to pass on the cost of the work to the meat traders through raising their rents. The dealers objected to this and threatened to take control of the Corporation by due electoral process in the City elections that were due in June 1994. This threat was particularly effective because they were able to associate themselves with BP. The oil multinational s argument with the authority was that - despite being one of the City s largest individual employers - its opinions were not being given the weight by the Corporation that the company regarded as being their due. The two allies threatened to overturn the existing order by packing the elections with voters who were sympathetic to their views. Such electors could have been enfranchised by means of legal ruses involving the sub-letting of property into units of the minimum 10 rating value. Before the year had ended the traders and the local government body reached an agreement over the Smithfield rents that led the former to withdraw their threat to overrun the latter by democratic procedure.

Location: Smithfield Market, West Smithfield, EC1A 9PQ (orange, brown)

Stratford Place

In 1439 Westminster Abbey granted the City of London a water supply from the springs at Bayswater. These were inspected regularly by the Lord Mayor of London and various City dignitaries. A banqueting house was erected on what is now Stratford Place for the use of the officials after they had made their visits.

Location: Stratford Place, W1C 1AY (purple, orange)

David Backhouse 2024