The Worshipful Company of Brewers is one of the 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 ...

. London brewers are known to have organised as a group in the 13th century. Their first

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 ...

was granted by Henry VI in 1438. In 1643,

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

imposed

excise taxes file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

ale Ale is a type of beer brewed using a warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to bala ...

, and

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, w ...

, steadily increasing them until gin became cheaper, causing the growth of unlicensed breweries and, in 1685, James II extended the company's jurisdiction to eight miles around London and its suburbs. In 1739 it adopted new by-laws, which included the requirement for members to "enter into a bond ..with the company against any expenses of their being elected to the office of sheriff or lord mayor". The company started to go into decline about 1750. They are the trustees of the Dame Alice Owen Foundation, which supports Dame Alice Owen's School. The Brewers' Company ranks 14th 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. The company's motto is ''In God Is All Our Trust''. The current Brewer's Hall was built in 1960, after bombing in 1940 destroyed the previous building. The company's first hall was destroyed by the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past th ...

in 1666. Located in Aldermanbury Square the hall is now available on a private hire basis for events.

References

External links

The Worshipful Company of Brewers
Brewers 1437 establishments in England * {{UK-org-stub

See also

References

External links