#vintners

Under the Vines (2021 - )

Two city people manage to inherit a failing vineyard in New Zealand, but neither of them know a thing about hard work and they despise each other.

The Vintners’ Hall

The Livery Companies of London are the successors to the medieval guilds, once responsible for regulating trade, wages and labour conditions of professions in the City. Whilst some still have professional connections, many are now primarily charitable organisations. Despite this, the Livery Companies still maintain an order or precedence – based on economic or political power in 1515!

The Worshipful Company of Vintners was granted a royal charter in 1363, and for many centuries regulated the wine trade in London and beyond. Their original livery hall was built in 1446, though was burnt down in the Great Fire of 1666. However, the Vintners had sufficient warning to remove most of their valuable from the hall – including tapestries, a hearse cloth, fancy silverware and their many royal charters. The hall was rebuilt between 1670 and 1675, with later redevelopment, giving the whole building a slightly disjointed feel when wandering from one room to another.

Despite being the wine merchants, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Vintners’ were mostly concerned with swans, given the number of statues, silverware and artwork bearing swan motifs (not to mention a large stuffed swan in the lobby). The reason for this is that the Vintners are one of two Livery Companies (the other being the Dyers) to still exercise a right to own swans on the Thames.

Swan Upping 2017: Day 2

Yesterday began the annual census of the Mute Swan population on the River Thames. It’s day two and we will talk a little about the history of the Swan Upping event. Official royal ownership of Mute Swans in England began in the 12th century when any unmarked swan became property of the crown. In the 14th century the office “Keeper of the King’s Swans” came into existence. There were also several private swan owners who employed swan herds to maintain their flocks. Before the young swans, cygnets, were able to fly they were rounded up along with their parents, the cob and pen, and to claim ownership they were given marks on their bills to match those of the parents. To own swans and to serve them up as a ceremonial dish at banquets was a display of status. 

Along with the Royal Swan Uppers, there are two other groups that are granted rights to the mute swans on the River Thames, the Worshipful Company of Vintners and the Worshipful Company of Dyers. The original purpose of Swan Upping was to ensure ownership of the swans and a ready supply of meat for the royal and livery company banquets. Today the process is more about conservation and ensuring the health of the Mute Swan population.

The images above are from  De Arte Venandi cum Avibus. Ms. Pal. Lat. 1071, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Facsimile reproduction by Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz. Printed in Austria 1969. See our other post featuring this manuscript.

The Royal Swan Uppers, the Vintners, and the Dyers, with their identifying banners, using their skiffs to gather a family of swans.