robes and concrete

on june 24th i was passing the guildhall on my way back to the office, and paused to photograph the brutalist wing which i've always liked. then i noticed the harry potter style dudes under the porch. moments later the lord mayor and his entourage arrived in three rolls royces. notices in the courtyard told me that this was for the annual election of sheriffs. i moved as close as i dared to take photos, and when they'd entered i turned my attention to the rolls royces.

from the website of the worshipful company of constructors:

There are two Sheriffs of the City of London. The Sheriffs are elected annually by the Liverymen of the Livery Companies, and it is a requirement for a Lord Mayor of the City of London to previously have served as a Sheriff. They are elected at the Midsummer Common Hall by the Liverymen by acclamation unless a ballot is demanded from the floor which takes place within 14 days.

The title of Sheriff, or "Shire Reeve", evolved during the Anglo-Saxon period of English history; the Reeve was the representative of the king in a city, town or shire, responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing the law. By the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, the City of London had Sheriffs, usually two at a time; the Sheriffs were the most important city officials and collected London's annual taxes on behalf of the royal exchequer; they also had judicial duties in the City's law courts. Until 1130, the sheriffs were directly appointed by the king; however, London gained a degree of self-government during the 12th century, including the right to choose its own Sheriff, a right which was affirmed in an 1141 charter by King Stephen.

In 1189, an annually elected mayor was introduced as chief magistrate for the City of London (along the lines of some European cities of the time such as Rouen and Liege); this change was reaffirmed by a charter granted by King John in 1215. As such, the Sheriffs were relegated to a less senior role in the running of the city, and became subordinate to the mayor. However, the mayor (later Lord Mayor of the City of London) generally served as sheriff before becoming mayor, and in 1385 the Common Council of London stipulated that every future Lord Mayor should "have previously been Sheriff so that he may be tried as to his governance and bounty before he attains to the Estate of Mayoralty"; this tradition continues to this day.

it's good to be working in the city again. i realise how much it's inspired the smallritual.org urban spirituality stuff, most obviously this.

Comments

[cloudburst]

potter robes indeed.

finally bought a small camera, hopefully i will also have some random things to share.

cheers.