Goldsmiths' Hall is a Grade I listed building at the junction of

Foster Lane Foster Lane is a short street within Cheap ward, in the City of London. It is situated northeast of St Paul's Cathedral and runs southbound Gresham Street to Cheapside. "Foster" is a corruption of 'St Vedast' to whom a church on the east si ...

and Gresham Street in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. It has served as an

assay office Assay offices are institutions set up to assay (test the purity of) precious metals. This is often done to protect consumers from buying fake items. Upon successful completion of an assay (i.e. if the metallurgical content is found be equal or bett ...

and the headquarters of London's goldsmith

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometim ...

, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, one of the livery companies of the City of London. The company has been based at this location since 1339, the present building being their third hall on the site.

History

Little is known about the first hall. It was rebuilt in 1407 by Drugo Barentyn, a goldsmith who served twice as

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

. The second hall was built circa 1634–36. In 1665,

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

viewed the funeral of Sir Thomas Vyner from Goldsmiths' Hall. Pepys wore his best silk suit for the occasion, but the hall was so full of people that he left for

Paternoster Square Paternoster Square is an urban development, owned by the Mitsubishi Estate, next to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. The area, which takes its name from Paternoster Row, once centre of the London publishing trade, was devastated b ...

to order a new, ordinary silk suit. The hall was restored after the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past th ...

in 1666 and eventually demolished in the late 1820s. Goldsmiths Hall

Queen Victoria's Procession to Goldsmiths' Hall by James H

The third and present hall was designed by

Philip Hardwick Philip Hardwick (15 June 1792 in London – 28 December 1870) was an English architect, particularly associated with railway stations and warehouses in London and elsewhere. Hardwick is probably best known for London's demolished Euston Arch ...

, who commissioned sculptor

Samuel Nixon (sculptor) Samuel Nixon (30 June 1804, London – 1854) was a portrait sculptor in London, England. Career Nixon's workshop was at 2 White Hart, Bishopsgate (1838–1854). Nixon worked for his friend Henry Doulton who established Royal Doulton. He is ...

. Marble statues by Samuel Nixon of children representing the Four Seasons stand on pedestals on the lower flight of the grand staircase, which ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term '' magazine'' (from the French ''magazine' ...

'' described as “a work of the highest merit ... such beautiful personifications.” The hall is entirely detached and occupies an entire block. Despite its great size, it is the second largest livery hall after the Worshipful Company of Plaisterers' Plaisterers Hall at One London Wall.

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

declared “’The Goldsmiths’ is the most magnificent of all the Halls of the City of London.”London Illustrated News. 13 January 1844, p. 21
/ref> Those present at the opening dinner in 1835 included the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister ...

and

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Excheque ...

. In 1941 a bomb exploded in its southwest corner, but the building largely survived and was restored after the Second World War. The Seasons by Samuel Nixon, London Illustrated News, 13 Jan 1844

The Seasons by Samuel Nixon, London Illustrated News, 13 Jan 1844

From time to time, the Master and

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

s provide for

open days Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

to visit Goldsmiths' Hall.

References

External links

The Goldsmiths' Company
{{authority control 1339 establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in 1835 Grade I listed buildings in the City of London Grade I listed livery halls Livery halls Philip Hardwick buildings