The Livery Halls of the City of London

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the company achieving full Livery status, the Worshipful Company of Architects have teamed up with Merrell Publishers to produce The Livery Halls of the City of London. This beautiful book by Anya Lucas and Henry Russell features details and history of 40 Livery Halls in the City of London, accompanied by impressive photographs by Andreas von Einsiedel. This extraordinary book provides an insight into the interesting, and sometimes awe inspiring, interiors hidden behind the doors of the City of London.

Brewers' Hall is featured in the book (on pages 116-119), with photographs of the main Hall, staircase, circular landing and exterior. The exact date of construction of the first Brewers' Hall, which was on the same site as the current Hall, is unknown, but it occurs in the records of the Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral in 1403. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. A second Hall was built on the same site between 1670 and 1673, but was sadly destroyed by bombing in 1940. Our current Hall, the third on this site, was completed in 1960.

It is fitting that a permanent record of the Hall in its current state will be preserved in this book, since it is likely to be undergoing major changes in the coming year as redevelopment plans come to fruition.  Last week we submitted a planning application for the proposed project to add two floors to the current Hall. All being well, we hope that the redevelopment work will begin in the summer of 2019 and, once complete, will result in a modernised building with consolidated spaces for the Company and its members on the ground and first floor, and four floors of lettable space above.