Plaque

Boy and panyer

Inscription

{Below the relief there is a separate stone, inscribed:}
When yu have sought the Citty Round
Yet still this is the highst ground
August the 27 1688
{Note that some of the letters have been inscribed above the text as if they had been left out by accident and added later: the "u" of "yu", the "t" of "sought", the "t" of "highst".}

This naked boy sitting on his pannier (basket) is thought to refer to the bakers in the area selling their wares on the street from a bread basket.

There seems to be general agreement that this is not the highest point in the City as claimed; that is a foot higher, in Cornhill. The mis-spellings and corrections in the text on the lower stone are rather quaint and initially made us suspicious of its authenticity. Our suspicions have been allayed partly by comparison with two other plaques of similar date: Guy, Earl of Warwick and St Olave, Silver Street - destroyed.

Spitalfields Life has an excellent post on old London signs, which includes early photos of the Warwick plaque and the Boy and Panyer. 

Ian Visits gives the history of this plaque, at least from 1892.

Site: Boy and panyer (1 memorial)

EC1, Panyer Alley

The Vintners' Company, who own this relic, protected it from the bombs of WW2 by securing it in the vaults of the Central Criminal Court.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Boy and panyer

Subjects commemorated i

Worshipful Company of Bakers

Charter granted by King Henry VII in 1486. The City's second oldest guild. (W...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Professor Cedric Keith Simpson

Professor Cedric Keith Simpson

W1, Weymouth Street, 11

Cedric Keith Simpson, CBE, MA, MD, LLD, FRCP, FRCPath, DMJ, 1907 - 1985, eminent forensic pathologist, emeritus professor of forensic med...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Lieutenant Charles Campbell Wood

Lieutenant Charles Campbell Wood

W6, Hammersmith Bridge, West Handrail

2019: Eileen Brown informed us that this plaque is mentioned in the novel, 'The L-Shaped Room' by Lynne Reid Banks which means it was ere...

2 subjects commemorated
Harrow School - gates - west pier

Harrow School - gates - west pier

HA1, Church Hill

The gate piers with the urns, that can be seen in our photo, each have a plaque on the other, north facing, side. These are only visible ...

War dead | WW1
1 subject commemorated
Walter Stone VC

Walter Stone VC

SE13, Lewisham High Street

The 6 VC plaques are laid into the ground in front of the monument.

War dead | WW1
2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Austin Stephen Burton - Barnet

Austin Stephen Burton - Barnet

EN5, Barnet High Street

The plaques are down at skirting-board level, one is hidden by the table outside the PDSA and the other is largely hidden by the pedestri...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

Billy Smart's Circus

Billy Smart's Circus

The first appearance of the Billy Smart Circus was at Southall Park.

Group, Theatre

2 memorials
Brigadier-General Sir George Henry Gater, GCMG, KCB, DSO & Bar, JP

Brigadier-General Sir George Henry Gater, GCMG, KCB, DSO & Bar, JP

Army officer and civil servant. Trained as a teacher. Moved to London in 1924, and became Director of Education at the LCC. 1933 became Clerk to the LCC. He advocated the development of Bloomsbury ...

Person, Armed Forces, Education, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Private Henry Daniel Aldred

Private Henry Daniel Aldred

Henry Daniel Aldred was born in Penge, Kent (now Greater London) the youngest of the five children of George Henry Aldred (1859-1930) and Caroline Aldred née Perry (1859-1913). His birth was regist...

Person, Armed Forces, France

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Henry VIII statue

Henry VIII statue

EC1, West Smithfield, St Bartholomew's Hospital

This is apparently the only statue of King Henry the VIII on public display in London It was erected in this new gatehouse in 1702 to ack...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator