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Article CARPENTERS' HALL. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Carpenters' Hall.
CARPENTERS' HALL .
THE Carpenters' Hall , of Avhich we giv e a vignette , by the kind permission of the publisher of the Graphic , ancl for which , out of courtesy , we are much obliged , but has not much connexion with Freemasonry , inasmuch as none of the earlier meetings of Grand Lodappeared to have been
ge held there , like as at the Fishmongers ' , the Mercers ' , the Haberdashers ' , the Vintners ' , the Merchant Taylors ' , the Stationers ' , the Draper ' s Halls—yet , archteologically , it has still somewhat of interest for us . For it is a remnant of that old guild
system of ours which once had such influence over our public ancl private life in this country , whose reality , so to say , has hardly yet been realised by our historians , Avhose usefulness and value have vet to be
full y appreciated . We are indebted for the following account of it , its destruction , and the rebuilding of the Hall , as well as for the vignette above , to our interesting contemporary the Graphic :
" The date of the first incorporation of the Carpenters' Company by Royal Charter is a matter of uncertainty ; one writer placing it as early as 1344 , the seA'enteenth year of the reign of Edward III ., ancl another giving 1478 the seventeenth year
, of Edward IV . It appears , however , to be beyond doubt that in 14-28 the " citizens and carpenters of Loudon " obtained from the Prior of St . Mary Spital a lease of five cottages and some waste land in the parish
of All Halloivs , London Wall , ancl that in the following year these cottages were pulled down , and a " Great , Hall" and other buildings erected upon the site . Additions , repairs , and decorations are known to have been executed at various subsequent dates , but an unfortunate
blank in the history of the Company , from 1515 to 1532 , makes it impossible to say positively whether the Hall which is now in progress of demolition is the original building , or whether a new Hall was built during the interval above alluded to . It
was one of the few City Halls which escaped the Great Fire of London , and it has an entrance hall added by Jupp about 1780 , and enriched with bas relief portraits of Inigo Jones , Wren , ancl others , by Bacon . The most interesting portion of
the structure from an artistic and archreological point of view are the interior decorations of the Great Hall , which include some elaborate carvings in massive oak , both in the roof and in the mullions of the Avindows , which are filled in with stained
glass bearing the ancient Royal Arms ( the Lion and the Dragon ) , the City Arms , and the names of different Masters and Wardens for many years , and a remnant of what is supposed to have been the Arms of the Company .
" The western side of the Hall vA'as adorned with a series of paintings which are supposed to have been covered up at the time of the Puritan crusade against all
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Carpenters' Hall.
CARPENTERS' HALL .
THE Carpenters' Hall , of Avhich we giv e a vignette , by the kind permission of the publisher of the Graphic , ancl for which , out of courtesy , we are much obliged , but has not much connexion with Freemasonry , inasmuch as none of the earlier meetings of Grand Lodappeared to have been
ge held there , like as at the Fishmongers ' , the Mercers ' , the Haberdashers ' , the Vintners ' , the Merchant Taylors ' , the Stationers ' , the Draper ' s Halls—yet , archteologically , it has still somewhat of interest for us . For it is a remnant of that old guild
system of ours which once had such influence over our public ancl private life in this country , whose reality , so to say , has hardly yet been realised by our historians , Avhose usefulness and value have vet to be
full y appreciated . We are indebted for the following account of it , its destruction , and the rebuilding of the Hall , as well as for the vignette above , to our interesting contemporary the Graphic :
" The date of the first incorporation of the Carpenters' Company by Royal Charter is a matter of uncertainty ; one writer placing it as early as 1344 , the seA'enteenth year of the reign of Edward III ., ancl another giving 1478 the seventeenth year
, of Edward IV . It appears , however , to be beyond doubt that in 14-28 the " citizens and carpenters of Loudon " obtained from the Prior of St . Mary Spital a lease of five cottages and some waste land in the parish
of All Halloivs , London Wall , ancl that in the following year these cottages were pulled down , and a " Great , Hall" and other buildings erected upon the site . Additions , repairs , and decorations are known to have been executed at various subsequent dates , but an unfortunate
blank in the history of the Company , from 1515 to 1532 , makes it impossible to say positively whether the Hall which is now in progress of demolition is the original building , or whether a new Hall was built during the interval above alluded to . It
was one of the few City Halls which escaped the Great Fire of London , and it has an entrance hall added by Jupp about 1780 , and enriched with bas relief portraits of Inigo Jones , Wren , ancl others , by Bacon . The most interesting portion of
the structure from an artistic and archreological point of view are the interior decorations of the Great Hall , which include some elaborate carvings in massive oak , both in the roof and in the mullions of the Avindows , which are filled in with stained
glass bearing the ancient Royal Arms ( the Lion and the Dragon ) , the City Arms , and the names of different Masters and Wardens for many years , and a remnant of what is supposed to have been the Arms of the Company .
" The western side of the Hall vA'as adorned with a series of paintings which are supposed to have been covered up at the time of the Puritan crusade against all