The Worshipful Company of Paviors 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 ...

. The Paviors can trace their history back to medieval times; they were responsible for the paving and maintenance of London's streets. 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 ...

from Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

in 2004. The company is no longer a trade association for or a regulator of London's road constructors. Today, it focuses on the promotion of excellence in all areas of construction. The Paviors' Company ranks fifty-sixth 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 ...

for livery companies.

Early history

From medieval times a small part of the

was paved, financed by a tax called pavage. In 1316, six Paviors were appointed by the City of London from which they gradually developed into a fellowship. In 1479, the Paviors received a code of ordinances from the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

giving them authority for the first time over the “craft of paving”. The Paviors remained a modest company without a hall of its own or livery and its funds were held by a warden. Membership was small, around 20 at the end of the sixteenth century, and its meetings were held in various taverns. One peculiarity was that some Paviors were members of the

Goldsmiths Company The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Lond ...

and there were instances of disputes being referred to the

Court of Aldermen The Court of Aldermen forms part of the senior governance of the City of London Corporation. It comprises twenty-five aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor (becoming senior alderman during his year of office). The Co ...

. Figures given in 1672 showed the paviors having 56 members and 35 Goldsmiths who were also on the books of the Paviors. One enlightened practice recorded in the sixteenth century was that widows were allowed to carry on the business of their late husbands and become full members of the company.Charles Welch, History of the Worshipful Company of Paviors of the City of London, 1909 In 1673 the Paviors were granted a

by King Charles II but it was rejected by the Court of Aldermen, and rejected again in 1679. Records indicated increased evidence of the Paviors exercising control over non-members, but this control eventually faded. A report in 1833 said that the compulsion to belong to the company had long gone, and payments and fines had declined. From the beginning of the Victorian era, “the decadence of the Company gradually developed” and “For over forty years a period of apathy prevailed”. No meeting of the company was held, and no new members were admitted. Eventually, a special meeting was held in 1889 to revive the company. This started with the award of prizes for essays on paving. The company applied for a livery, which was initially rejected by the Court of Aldermen but was finally granted in 1900.

Charities and education

The Worshipful Company of Paviors supports the following charities: *

Arkwright Scholarships Trust The Arkwright Engineering Scholarship is an engineering award given to engineering students within the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. It has been running since 1991 and, as part of The Smallpeice Trust, has awarded over 6,000 scholarships to ...

* London Construction Academy * Construction Youth Trust * Paviors Hall of Road Making at the

Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre Amberley Museum is an open-air industrial heritage museum at Amberley, near Arundel in West Sussex, England. The museum is owned and operated by Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre, a not-for-profit company and registered charity, and has the s ...

* Ironbridge Gorge Museum * Lord Mayor's Appeal Charity * Mansion House Scholarship Scheme * Sherriffs' and Recorder's Fund * Guildhall School Trust The company also makes regular donations to St Paul's Cathedral for the United Guilds Service and to St Martin-within-Ludgate Church, where the Paviors Company's new Masters' installation ceremony takes place. The funds come from the Paviors Company Livery Trust for Charities (Registered Charity No. 1102885) and from fund-raising events.

Affiliations

The paviors are affiliated with various groups and organizations. * Frigate * Third Battalion Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment * 29(R) Squadron of the RAF *

* Paviors Lodge Number 5646"Paviors Lodge Number 5646"
paviorslodge.org.uk

References

External links

* {{authority control Paviors Pavement engineering