Saddlers’ Hall

40 Gutter Lane, London, EC2V 6BR

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• Nearest station: St Pauls (Central line)

In the heart of the City of London, a few yards from St Paul's Cathedral, off an ancient byeway, stands the magnificent mansion house of The Worshipful Company of Saddlers, in a position it has occupied for over 600 years. Built in classical style, the Hall is furnished with period furniture and paintings which provide an elegant background for the display of the Company's treasures, the earliest of which date from the 16th century.

The original Saddlers' Hall was built in the late 14th Century at the same location. Over the centuries this site has been beset by several disasters, the first Hall was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. The second Hall also was lost to fire in 1821, though on this occasion the financial pain was eased as ‘fire insurance’ for buildings had become common. The third Hall lasted until 29th December, 1940 when it became another statistic during the Blitzkreig of London.

At the end of the Second World War the Corporation of London carried out extensive replanning. As a result, the Saddlers' lost much of its original medieval freehold through compulsory purchase orders. With the loss of its former frontage on Cheapside, the new Hall had to be built on what remained of the Company's land. Nevertheless, the present Hall, built between 1956/58, still stands in part on the site of the first Saddlers' Hall, on a small portion of land between St Vedast's Church and Gutter Lane.

One of the Company Treasures that is on display is The Kings Champion Saddle, which is held on loan in Saddlers' Hall due to the generosity of the present Queen's Champion, Lt Col J L M Dymoke OBE DL, Lord of the Manor of Scrivelsby. The saddle, of leather covered with red silk velvet and ornamented with silver-gilt lace, braid and fringe, was probably used at the Coronation of George the Third in 1760. Together with the bridle and gauntlet, it was restored in Saddlers Hall some 200 years later by John Waterer, a Liveryman of the Company.

The Manor of Scrivelsby in Lincolnshire carries with it the hereditary title of the Grand Champion of England. The Dymoke family has held the title since 1292. The Champion's duty was performed only at the Coronation of each Monarch, with the last such ceremony taking place at the Coronation of King George IV in 1821. Clad in full armour, carrying a gauntlet and attended by trumpeters, Serjeants-at-Arms, a Herald and the Lord High Constable, the Kings' Champion rode into Westminster Hall and delivered a challenge against anybody who might gainsay the Sovereign. After the third challenge, their being no response, the Monarch would toast the health of the Champion, in the knowledge that he was undisputed as Sovereign.