Swanage Town Council was delighted to welcome the Right Honourable the Lady Mayor of the City of London, Alderwoman Dame Susan Langley DBE to Swanage on Saturday 6 June, together with the Master Mercer, Alice Hohler. They were joined by their consorts and approximately 170 other Masters and Consorts from the London Livery Companies, making this a significant and memorable occasion for the town.
The visiting party arrived in Swanage during the afternoon and gathered in the courtyard at the rear of the Town Hall where the Town Crier, Andrew Fleming, delivered a formal greeting, otherwise known as a ‘cry’. This provided some historical background to the visit and was greatly enjoyed by those present.
At the Town Hall, guests viewed the historic façade which was brought to Swanage by George Burt in the late 19th century. Burt is of course well known for incorporating architectural fragments from London into local buildings. The principal civic party were then invited inside for a tour, where both the Lady Mayor and the Master Mercer took a particular interest in the building and admired commemorative items previously presented to the town by the Mercers’ Company. They later departed by train from Swanage Station.
The tall central section of the Town Hall frontage was originally constructed on Cheapside, London, in 1670. It is finely carved, with a central figure above the doorway flanked by cherubs – most likely representing the Mercers’ Maiden, the emblem of the Mercers’ Company. The façade is widely regarded as an outstanding piece of craftsmanship and has been described by historian T.M.M. Baker as ‘possibly the finest remaining example of the post-fire rebuilding of London’s domestic architecture’.
The visit provided a valuable opportunity to celebrate Swanage’s historic connections with the City of London and to showcase one of the town’s most distinctive and important heritage features, which is admired by visitors to the town on a daily basis.