Assets of the Company

The Company has never owned its own Livery Hall. During the eighteenth century it was the practice of the Company to meet in other Company Halls (e.g. the Painter-Stainers’, Goldsmiths’ etc.) and to meet in taverns. These latter venues were a cause of some disputation between the Commonalty and the Court in the early days. They complained that they “were summoned to alehouses and taverns to the great disparagement of them all”. However, from the second half of the eighteenth century suites of rooms in high quality hotels were hired for long periods. The Company spent 36 years at the Paul’s Head Tavern and 49 years at the King’s Head Tavern. The Company kept most of its belongings in a chest, the one currently in our possession is a replacement acquired in 1766. They also acquired a bookcase in 1817 which, having been lost for many years, is now restored to the Company. Since 1947 there has been an arrangement with the Goldsmiths’ Company to use their superb Hall for some Company functions. The Company currently has an office at the Carpenters’ Hall with the use of other rooms there for Company functions.

In spite of never having owned its own Hall, the Company has, over the years, managed to acquire a number of very valuable assets, the two most important being its Watch and Clock Collection and its Library. These are not static collections, they are still being added to today, either by bequest, gift or purchase.