Drapers' Hall Portraits
Drapers’ Hall
We supplied Petworth Picture Lights to illuminate three large portraits in this historic hall.
The portraits are over life size, ‘whole-length’ format.
In the 1420s the Drapers’ guild decided to build its own Hall. This
first Hall was in St. Swithin’s Lane. The present Hall, situated in
Throgmorton Street, was bought from King Henry VIII in 1543 for the sum
of 1,800 marks (approximately £1,200). This had been the house of Thomas
Cromwell, Earl of Essex and Chief Minister to Henry, but had been
forfeited to the King on Cromwell’s execution in July 1540.
Destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666, Drapers’ Hall was rebuilt
between 1667 and 1671 to designs by Edward Jarman. In 1772, it was again
rebuilt after a fire which did considerable damage and, in the 1860s,
the frontage was changed and the interior altered by Herbert Williams.
It was later altered once more in 1898-9 by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson.This very grand livery hall has a suite of rooms for hire, including
the main hall, two court rooms and a historic garden and courtyard.