Arms of the Worshipful Company of Vintners

The Worshipful Company of Vintners is one of the oldest Livery Companies of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, thought to date back to the 12th century. It is one of the "Great Twelve" livery companies of London, and its motto is ''Vinum Exhilarat Animum'', Latin for "Wine Cheers the Spirit". One of the more peculiar rights of the Company involves the ceremony of

swan upping Swan upping is an annual ceremony in England in which mute swans on the River Thames are rounded up, caught, ringed, and then released. History By prerogative right, the British Crown enjoys ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open wate ...

History and origins

It probably existed as early as the twelfth century, and it received a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

in 1364. Due to the royal charter, the company gained a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

over wine imports from

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part ...

. Also, it acquired the right to sell wine without a licence, and it became the most powerful company in the wine trade. However, in 1553, it lost its right to sell wine anywhere in the country. Up to 2006, Vintners retained the right to sell wine without a licence in certain areas, such as the City of London or along the route of the old Great North Road. This right has now been abolished, but limited privileges remain. The Vintners' Company ranks eleventh in the

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

of livery companies, making it one of the "Great Twelve Livery Companies". Vintners' Hall is situated by

Southwark Bridge Southwark Bridge ( ) is an arch bridge in London, for traffic linking the district of Southwark and the City across the River Thames. Besides when others are closed for temporary repairs, it has the least traffic of the Thames bridges in Lond ...

, in

Vintry ward Vintry is one of the 25 wards of the City of London. Located within it is the City end of Southwark Bridge and, adjacent to that, the hall of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, the City livery company for the wine trade. The ward's boundary i ...

. The nearby Garlickhythe was a dock where French garlic and wine were landed, from

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

times.

Swan upping

One of the more peculiar rights of the company involves the ceremony of

Procession of the Worshipful Company of Vintners

The Worshipful Company of Vintners elects its new master each year in July, and this is celebrated with a special service at the Church of St James Garlickhythe, which is just across the road from their hall. The procession starts at Vintners Hall with the master and wardens in Tudor dress carrying nosegays. Their path is swept by a wine porter using a birch broom. File:Vintners' swan marker.jpg, Swan marker of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, in his blue uniform, during annual swan upping, Abingdon, summer 2011 File:The Vintners starting Swan Upping, Sunbury. - geograph.org.uk - 122599.jpg, The Vintners starting swan upping, at Sunbury, 2004 File:Swan Upping.jpg, The Queen's Swan Uppers (white flag, far right) and swan uppers from the Vintners' Company (red flag) and Dyers' Company conducting swan upping on the Thames in Abingdon, in 2006 File:Procession of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, London 1.jpg, The Procession of the Worshipful Company of Vintners in 2019

In popular culture

* The music video of

Liberty X Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British-Irish group originally consisting of Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group was formed by the five finalists of the 2001 ITV talent show '' Popstar ...

's 2002 smash hit " Just a Little" was filmed in the Vintners' Hall building. It features the group as a gang of professional burglars (with two of its members,

Jessica Taylor Jessica Pietersen (; born 23 June 1980) is a British singer, television personality and dancer who was a member of the pop group Liberty X. Personal life As a teenager she was a member of the Preston Musical Comedy Society and played the title ...

and

Kelli Young Kelli Young (born 7 April 1982) is an English pop singer. She was a member and lead singer of British pop group Liberty X from 2001 until they split in 2007 and again in 2012 when they reformed for a one-off reunion for an ITV2 series and perfor ...

, wearing tight black latex catsuits) who steal a diamond from the building's atrium.

References

External links