Beer Money for Aldenham School Students 2019

We are looking forward to welcoming Year 9 students from Aldenham School to Brewers' Hall on Wednesday for our annual Beer Money Ceremony. During this historic ceremony, the Master will present each student with a commemorative coin. This year the coin the students will receive is a crown, minted specially as part of ‘The Tower of London’ collection which celebrates the royal palace and fortress that has been at the centre of the story of Britain, and London in particular, for nearly 1000 years.

This historical ceremony, which we perform for students every year, reminds us of the longstanding link between the Brewers’ Company and Aldenham School. The Brewers' Company were entrusted with the care of the School in 1599 by its founder and first headmaster Richard Platt, who was a Past Master of the Brewers' Company. The crown presented to the students is a symbol of the Brewers' Company's concern for the students' wellbeing. It acknowledges that, in days gone by, beer would have been much safer to drink than the dirty water that was available. The beer money ceremony is is believed to have evolved out of a beer allowance given to pupils in the early days of the school. Later on, as the supply of drinking water became cleaner, money was substituted instead of beer itself.