Hallowed Halls

London’s Livery Halls have been shaped by the City’s commercial activities and socio-political hierarchies for more than 600 years

On Tuesday, 30 September 1856, an auction was held in Mincing Lane in the City of London. The sale catalogue advertises “the valuable building materials, fixtures, remaining furniture, and fittings-up of Clothworkers’ Hall”, including, among other lots, “500,000 capital bricks”, “eight tons of lead”, “stout oak and fir timber”, “elegant statuary and other chimney pieces”, “the oak screen in hall, with pilasters and capitals”, “15,000 feet of oak and other panelling”, “large lead and slate cisterns”, “7,000 feet super of stone paving”, “stone portico entrance and columns, with carved capitals”, and “wrought-iron gates”. Clothworkers’ Hall, rebuilt for the fourth