Have You Spotted This Overlooked Detail By Bank Station?

The City of London is full of little details, symbols and historical remnants, many of which people miss. 

One I enjoy pointing out on my walking tours are these lampposts outside the Royal Exchange. They carry a unique set of symbols… 

The Bank Junction

The junction outside the Royal Exchange is a real confluence of power, wealth and trade in the City.

Five roads converge on this central point, and facing it are the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange and Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor.

In the centre is a raised area with a statue of the Duke of Wellington, benches and flower beds. Either side are two entrances to Bank Station.

As a plaque informs you, the central ‘forecourt’ was remodelled and opened by the Lord Mayor in 1985. 

Around the raised forecourt are 12 attractive lampposts, with a dragon on top, from the coat of arms of the City of London, each holding the shield of the City. 

The lamposts were funded by the ‘Twelve Great Livery Companies’. 

The Livery Companies 

The Livery Companies I have covered on a number of blogs before, however, they started as medieval trading guilds, setting pricing, training apprentices, protecting who could enter the trade, as well as supporting their members. Over the centuries they have developed into charitable, educational and social institutions but often do still have roles within their trades.

They are also still involved in the election of the sheriffs and Lord Mayor of the City. To be Lord Mayor of the City of London, you must be a member of a livery company. 

There are 111 livery companies today, with newer companies including the Worshipful Company of Accountants and the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. 

In 1515 the Court of Aldermen gave the livery companies an ‘Order of Precedence’, ranking the, at the time, 48 livery companies. This was largely based on how wealthy they were and how many Lord Mayor’s they had fielded. The order then dictated, for example, where they were placed in the Lord Mayor’s show/barge procession. 

The top twelve in that order of precedence are known as the ‘Great Twelve’. You can see the full order here.

Before the order of precedence was set in stone, there were two livery companies who could not agree who should be sixth and who should be seventh: the Skinners and the Merchant Taylors. The Lord Mayor at the time in 1484, Lord Mayor Billesden, therefore agreed that every year, they would swap between sixth and seventh. This is said to be where we get the term ‘all at sixes and sevens’ from, meaning in disarray. 

The Lampposts 

On each of the twelve lampposts are the twelve shields of those companies. Going in order from 1st position to 12th we have…

The Mercers

In the centre is a depiction of the Mercer’s Maiden, a symbol I have written about before, here. She is thought to probably derive from an image of the Virgin Mary. A mercer was more of a general merchant, particularly in textiles, fabrics and silks.

The Grocers

The symbols depicted here are thought to probably be cloves because the Grocers’ Company was established in 14th century by members of a Guild of ‘Pepperers’, who were responsible for weighing and checking the purity of spices arriving into London.

The Drapers

The Drapers’ Company shield depicts three sunbeams issuing from clouds with Imperial crowns of gold. This was all apparently in honour of the Virgin Mary…

The Fishmongers

The Fishmongers, unsurprisingly, have fish on theirs, as well as the keys of St Peter.

The Goldsmiths

On the Goldsmith’s shield are cups and buckles as well as two leopard’s heads, originally from the lion’s on the royal coat of arms. The word ‘leopard’ is thought to be a corruption of ‘leo part’, meaning a lion’s face head on. They have used the leopard head since 1300 when it became the mark used to stamp gold and silver of the correct purity.

The Merchant Taylors

Taylor is an old spelling of ‘tailor’, so they have two sets of ermine robes and a pavilion.

The Skinners

The symbols on the Skinners’ shield represent ‘ermine tails’. The ermine is a type of stoat and their fur has been used for centuries in garments for monarchs and peers.

The Haberdashers

The Haberdashers’ shield depicts a lion over a wave pattern, representing the weave of thread.

The Salters

The Salters’ shield depicts three silver salt containers, with salt spilling out of the sides.

The Ironmongers

Three blocks of ‘steel azure’ are represented on the Ironmongers’ coat of arms, as well as what I believe are meant to represent chain links.

The Vintners

The Vinter’s, aka the winemakers, naturally have three barrels on their coat of arms.

The Clothworkers

The Clothworkers’ company has the ermine tails below two havettes, a tool used to pin cloth down to be trimmed. Below that is a teasel, a sort of thistle, used in the medieval period by clothworkers to brush woven cloth to raise the nap of the wool.

So, there you have it, the Great Twelve! There are a couple of mnemonics people use to remember the order, for example: ‘My Gracious, Darling, For Goodness Sake Make Haste Since I’m Very Cold’ or ‘My Goodness Dear Father George, Sister Mary Has Stripped In Vatican Corridor’. 

Thank you for reading, more hidden history below…