Hall
The Grocers' first hall in Old Jewry was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666 and replaced by a new building within the old walls, paid for largely by the Company members. This second hall existed until 1802, when the Company's needs for a more spacious and satisfactory base meant a third hall was constructed. However, frequent and extensive repairs were required due to defective foundations in the building, which was replaced by a fourth hall, completed in 1893 on Prince's Street. The hall survived the Blitz with only minor damage to its north wing, but was almost completely destroyed by a fire in 1965, apparently caused by a lightbulb left on in the grand staircase beneath an oak lintel which smouldered and eventually caught fire. A fifth and final hall was constructed nearby in 1970, also on Prince's Street, which remains the Grocers' home today.
Read more about this topic: Worshipful Company Of Grocers
Famous quotes containing the word hall:
“Generation on generation, your neck rubbed the windowsill
of the stall, smoothing the wood as the sea smooths glass.”
—Donald Hall (b. 1928)
“Bernard always had a few prayers in the hall and some whiskey afterwards as he was rather pious.”
—Daisy Ashford (1881–1972)
“Her cabined, ample spirit,
It fluttered and failed for breath.
Tonight it doth inherit
The vasty hall of death.”
—Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)