Historian and CovSoc member, Peter James, tells us the fascinating history of the city’s guilds. Peter writes……
The Importance of Trade Guilds
Trade Guilds played a vital role in Coventry’s social and economic life. Not only did they maintain high quality standards for goods and services, they also provided welfare support for their members and took an active part in the political affairs of the community. Guilds often operated as monopolies exerting strong control over prices and trade within the city.
A key aspect of their influence was their structured apprenticeship schemes which offered carefully regulated training for young people. These apprenticeships not only preserved skills and knowledge but also ensured the future strength and reputation of Coventry trades.
Formation
It was during the Middle Ages that livery companies or guilds were recorded in London or other major cities. There are no records for any trade organisation in Coventry before the 14th Century. The Merchant Guild of St. Mary was the first in 1340 set up by merchants with a licence from Edward III.
Guild Amalgamations
The principal guilds of St. Mary, St. John and St. Katherine combined to form The Trinity Guild in 1364. One function of the guilds was to provide places where merchants and traders could meet and were important in fostering growth in the city. By 1413 the existing guilds determined to reduce competition from new guilds. The Trinity Guild obtained a Declatory Patent or judgement from Henry V. It stated that “thenceforth there should be no new guild erected in Coventry”. Its allegiance to the Catholic church caused Trinity Guild along with monasteries and abbeys to be dissolved by Henry VIII in 1547.
St. Marys Guildhall
St Mary’s Hall was built c.1340 and was originally the headquarters of the Guild of St. Mary.
From 1392 it served the same purpose for the Holy Trinity Guild formed by a merger of the guilds of St. Mary, St. John and St. Katherine. In 1449 a review of members of trade guilds in Coventry indicated 23 trade groups comprising 586 members
After the dissolution, the Guildhall was last used in 1547 as a meeting place for the guilds.
It became the Coventry City armoury, treasury and council house.
Trade guilds such as the Fullers, Weavers, Mercers, Drapers, Bakers, Brewers, Fishmongers, Dyers, Masons, Taylors and Smiths continued to function.
Homeless
After the Guildhall was repurposed by the city council the guilds were forced to seek new venues for their meetings. The guilds met at local inns as well as rented rooms. In the 1680s accounts show that the Carpenters, Smiths and Bakers all met at the Leather Hall which stood between West Orchard and Smithford Street. One meeting was convened by the Fuller’s Company on 27th July 1761 at The Black Bear Inn in the High Street. A proposal was sanctioned that “No new members be admitted to the Fellowship of Fullers until one of the present members is dead”
The Drapers’ Company was extremely rich and powerful and managed to fund the building of a meeting hall in 1637. It was the first of three halls built on the same site in Bayley Lane.
Precedence
In 1515 the Court of Aldermen of the City of London decided on an order of precedence for the 48 livery companies in existence there. The order for the top five was Mercers, Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers and Goldsmiths. This reflected the importance of Drapers not just in Coventry but in any community.
Apprenticeship
The Statute of Artificers of 1563 clarified the position of apprentices. Nobody could take up a trade or craft without serving an apprenticeship of at least seven years (up to the age of 24 which was later reduced to 21). Apprentices fell into two categories: the norm was those bound by their parents or family, the alternative being where the sponsors were the overseers of the poor.
St. Mary’s Guildhall
A Council House was built on Earl Street in Coventry during the war years of 1913-17. However the building was not officially opened by King George VI until 1920. This allowed civic administration to move there from the guildhall. “Four hundred years after the Guild of the Holy Trinity was dissolved the Guildhall once again became a meeting place for a Guild.”
Reformation
1946 marked the resumption of official guild meetings at the Guildhall. The Freemen’s Guild was re-formed in that year with the assistance of the City of London Freemen’s Guild.
The Coventry Freemen’s Guild presently hold a number of social, ceremonial and fundraising events throughout the year.
Footnote
I am not a member of the Freemen’s Guild but I was proud to visit the Lord Mayor’s Chamber in 1966 and swear the Oath of a Freeman. Having served a 4-year Technician Apprenticeship I received a certificate and now benefit from a Charity payment paid to retired freemen.