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| Arms granted 17 September 1447 by Roger Leigh, Clarenceux King of Arms; confirmed at the Visitations of 1590 and 1634; Crest and Supporters granted 20 June 1957. | ||
History:
The first Hall stood from 1357 and in 1446 the Company was bequeathed the present Upper Thames Street site.
This was destroyed on 1666 by by 1671 the Hall was rebuilt by Roger Jarman as master craftsman.
It still survives, having suffered only minor damage in the Second World War. The Court Room is
splendidly panelled. The main Hall has a dining capacity of 140. A fine staircase of 1673 leads
to an impressive late 19th-century drawing-room. Among interesting possessions are a tapestry of
1466, a hearse cloth given to the Company in 1539 and a painting after Van Dyck showing St Martin
(the Vintners' patron saint) dividing his cloak with the beggar. Outside the Hall on the corbel
of the west wall is the painted coade stone Vintry Schoolboy by an unknown sculptor, c.
1840.
For current contact details please go to
The Livery Companies Database, which can be found on The Fishmongers' Company's website.
Originally divided into Vinterarii (wine importers) and Tabernarii (innkeepers), the former
being the more important. The Company received a Charter in 1364 which granted it a monopoly of trade
with Gascony, followed in 1437 by a grant of incorporation. The Company's extensive powers over the trade
are still reflected in the privilege of some free Vintners of selling wine at approved sites free of excise
licence. There is a legend that in 1363 the Vintners feasted at one time the five kings of England,
France, Scotland, Denmark and Cyprus, in memory of which distinction the number five is mentioned in the
Company's toasts and five cheers are given instead of the usual three. Another historic relic is the
sweeping clean of the street before the installation day procession to church, recalling its medieval
muddy conditions. The Vintners share with the Dyers and the Crown the ownership of all swans on the
Thames, their cygnets being marked with two nicks on the beak on the annual Swan Upping Voyage. About
a quarter of the present Livery if some 300 belong to the wine trade. A 1973 Charter authorised the
setting up of the Wine Standards Board with certain responsibilities for enforcing the EEC Wine Laws.
Education in wine is encouraged by a travel scholarship and a bursary and by participation in
founding the Master of Wine examination. Close connections are maintained with all appropriate trade,
educational and benevolent associations. The Company's almshouses are now at Nutley, Sussex.
Last updated 4 January 2005