Last Updated on 05/06/2025
Today, the Worshipful Company of Grocers is proud to celebrate the 600th Anniversary of the first purpose-built* Livery Hall in the City of London.
* The year 1425 saw the founding of Grocers’ Hall on its current site – the first fully documented purpose-built Livery Hall and Company home in the City. The first Company feast was held there in 1428. Other companies, about seven that still exist today, had Halls prior to this, such as the Skinners, the Fishmongers, the Armourers and Brasiers, which were adaptations or extensions of existing buildings, and thus were not purpose-built. Another three, Goldsmiths, Merchant Taylors and Saddlers constructed their first Halls on the sites of existing buildings, but there is simply not enough evidence to know for certain if these were adaptations, new builds or a mix of the two. A couple of other Companies followed suit with documented purpose-built Halls, most notably the Drapers and the Carpenters, but these came into operation marginally later than Grocers’ Hall, as indicated by their first recorded feasts.
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