Apothecaries Hall is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

at Black Friars Lane, London. It is the headquarters of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, one of the

livery companies A livery company is a type of guild or professional association that originated in medieval times in London, England. Livery companies comprise London's ancient and modern trade associations and guilds, almost all of which are Style (form of a ...

of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. It is one of the largest livery companies (with over 1,600 members in 2012) and ranks 58th in their order of precedence. The building, originally part of the Dominican priory of Black Friars, was called Cobham House prior to its purchase by the society in 1632. The original building was destroyed in the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

in 1666, although a significant extent of the 13th-century buildings remain, including a portion of the walls, now incorporated into the north range of the hall courtyard. A new hall was built on the same site and footprint of rooms, and completed in 1672 to the design of Edward Jerman; an "Elaboratory" was included at this time for the first-ever large-scale manufacture of drugs. From then until 1922, the society manufactured medicinal and pharmaceutical products at their hall, and sold some of their products from a retail outlet opening onto Water Lane (now Blackfriars Lane). Much of the manufactured drugs were to supply clients of the society which included the navy, the army, the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

and the Crown Colonies. A major restoration and (external) building programme was carried out in the 1780s. Although the hall underwent further redevelopment in the 1980s, its appearance has altered little since the late-eighteenth century externally and late-seventeenth century internally. Apothecaries' Hall is the oldest extant livery hall in the City of London, with significant 13th-century elements, and the first-floor structure and arrangement of the Great Hall, Court Room and Parlour remaining as rebuilt between 1668 and 1670.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apothecaries Hall, London Grade I listed buildings in the City of London Grade I listed livery halls Livery halls