Scissorum

Weekly Newsletter 26 January 2024

This Week Merchant Taylors’

The Bulstrode Whitelocke Society Visit Merchant Taylors’ Hall

The Great Hall, although medieval in origin, was hit by eight incendiary bombs during the Blitz on 17 September 1940, which caused enormous damage. Therefore, the beautiful Hall that greets visitors today was repaired and conceals much of the original building first referenced as ‘Taillourshalle’ in 1391. Philip Kelvin OMT discussed the evolution of the coat of arms of the Merchant Taylors’ Company and the portraiture displayed in the Court Room where members of the Company have met for centuries. In the Library, the guests were able to gaze upon the many early treasures of the Company including a silver plated rod used for measuring yards of cloth. Professor Matthew Davies discussed several rare early books and pamphlets from the collection, which also houses works by John Stow, Richard Mulcaster, and John Foxe. A wonderful evening concluded back in the Parlour with an impromptu quiz led by the Clerk of the Merchant Taylors’ Company, Rear Admiral John Clink CBE, before all and sundry departed the Hall and melted into the night. The Society would like to thank Jane Hindle, Ellie Wilson, Professor Matthew Davies, Philip Kelvin OMT, and all at Merchant Taylors’ Hall for a most splendid evening.

The Bulstrode Whitelocke Society enjoyed a history of the Hall and its Treasures at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall on Monday 22 January. They joined staff and pupils from Wallingford School, Oxfordshire, which was founded by Walter Bigg in 1659 in association with the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors’. After some much-needed refreshment in the Parlour, both schools were welcomed by Master Mr Michael Cole Fontayn in the Drawing Room and listened to a series of talks about the history of the livery company and the Hall. The two parties then split into four groups and rotated through a carousel comprised of the Hearse Cloths in Western Corridor, the Great Hall, the Court Room, and an Object Session in the Library. They learned from Ellie Wilson that the two oldest and most-prized treasure of the Company, the Hearse Cloths, were originally used to cover distinguished members' coffins. Although the origins of both cloths are unclear, one is thought to date from the last decades of the fifteenth century, whilst the other may have been made between 1520 and 1540. Both depict scenes of the life of St. John the Baptist, the patron saint of the Company, and are two of only fifteen hearse cloths in the country that survived the Reformation.

September 29 2017

07