The Worshipful Company of Coopers is one of the Livery Companies

Livery Company

The Livery Companies are 108 trade associations in the City of London, almost all of which are known as the "Worshipful Company of" the relevant trade, craft or profession. The medieval Companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling,...

 of the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

. The organisation of Coopers existed in 1422; it received a Royal Charter

Royal Charter

A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...

 of incorporation in 1501. The trade of Coopers

Cooper (profession)

Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden staved vessels of a conical form, of greater length than breadth, bound together with hoops and possessing flat ends or heads...

, the making of wine, beer, and spirit barrels, having become obsolete, the Company now exists as a charitable foundation.

It also supports the Coopers' Company and Coborn School

Coopers' Company and Coborn School

The Coopers' Company and Coborn School is a 11-18 school in Upminster, in the London Borough of Havering, and is part of Essex.-Admissions:The school is a non-selective voluntary aided state comprehensive school describe by Ofsted as "an exceptional school of real excellence". The school excels at...

 of Upminster

Upminster

Upminster is a suburban town in northeast London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan, and comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential...

 and Strode's College

Strode's College

Strode's College is a sixth form college located in Egham, Surrey. Its history began in 1704 when Henry Strode bequeathed £6,000 to set up a free school in his native parish of Egham. In the twentieth century Strode's became a boys' grammar school before being designated a sixth form college in 1975...

 of Egham, Surrey.

Their guild hall was first founded in Bassishaw

Bassishaw

Bassishaw is a ward in the City of London. This small ward is bounded on the east by Coleman Street ward, to the south by Cheap ward, to the north by Cripplegate ward, and on the west by Aldersgate ward...

 ward in 1522, at The Swan and from 1547 in a purpose built hall. This hall was destroyed in the Great Fire of London

Great Fire of London

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...

 in 1666, and rebuilt on the same site. The guild rebuilt again in 1865, selling a part of the site to the Corporation for the expansion of Guildhall

Guildhall, London

The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...

. This hall was destroyed by fire on the night of 29th December, 1940. The livery then shared quarters with other companies until purchasing their current headquarters in Devonshire Square.

The Coopers' Company ranks thirty-sixth in the order of precedence of Livery Companies. Its motto is Love as Brethren.

External links

• The Worshipful Company of Coopers