The Worshipful Company of Butchers is the home of the ancient Guild of Butchers 

www.butchershall.com

Butchers’ Hall is the home of the Worshipful Company of Butchers.  The organisation is the City livery company for the meat industry and is one of the oldest livery companies in the City of London .  The earliest history records that, in 975AD in the ‘Ward of Farringdon Without’ there are ‘divers’ slaughterhouses and a Butchers' Hall where the craftsmen meet.

The Arms of The Company were granted in 1540, the motto being - 'Omnia Subjecisti Sub Pedibus, Oves et Boves'- Thou hast put all things under his feet, all Sheep and Oxen.  Their Charter of Incorporation was granted by James I in 1605.

Butchers' Hall has had many locations and in 1668, following the Great Fire of London, the Company moved from the Smithfield area to Pudding Lane, where they remained until the site was acquired by an Act of Parliament in 1884.

A new Hall was built at the present site in Bartholomew Close thus renewing the links with their original surroundings.  It sustained severe damage in both World Wars, and the current Hall was rebuilt in 1960, with considerable refurbishment and improvement taking place in 1996.

There are 103 livery companies in the City and the Worshipful Company of Butchers is ranked 24^th.  The livery companies have their origins in Britain well before 1066 and guilds (or mysteries, from the Latin 'misterium', meaning professional skill) flourished throughout Europe for many centuries and covered a range of craft skills. butchers'_hall.htm

The development of guilds in Britain was not confined to London .  The Cutlers of Hallamshire in Sheffield, the Merchant Venturers of Bristol and the Fellmongers of Richmond in Yorkshire are examples of those still in existence today.

The word 'guild' derives from the Saxon word for payment, since membership of these fraternities was (and is) paid for.  The word 'livery' refers to uniform clothing used as as means of identification.  Today new companies, in their formative years, are usually referred to as guilds.

The early food livery companies were the medieval equivalent of Trading Standards and Environmental Health departments, checking weights and measures and quality of goods.  They also controlled imports, set wages, working conditions and they trained apprentices.  Today City street names - such as Bread Street, Cloth Fair, Fish Street Hill, Ironmonger Lane, Mason's Avenue, Milk Street and Poultry - mark the sites where it all began.  

For directions to Butchers' Hall please click here

Last updated 12 November 2008