Grade II* listed  ·  Livery hall  ·  City of London

Fishmongers’ Hall stands at the north end of London Bridge, the hall of one of the oldest of the City’s livery companies. Everyone who comes to the Hall arrives the same way, through the entrance hall and along the corridor that leads into the building, so when those spaces were redecorated in 2024 the work had to stand inspection at arm’s length. We carried out the full scheme over three months on site, working for main contractor Sykes & Son under the direction of the Hall’s conservation architect and designer.

Weeks of that programme went into preparation. The enriched plasterwork was rubbed down entirely by hand, egg by egg and dart by dart.

The decoration brought together most of the firm’s trades: more than a thousand books of 23.5-carat double-thickness gold leaf laid over the cornices, enrichments, ceiling roses and door mouldings; custom-cut stencils for the anthemion frieze and the star coffers of the corridor ceiling; coach lines pulled by hand around every panel; nine pelmets grained in oil glaze to match the surrounding woodwork; and a polychrome ceiling scheme in Little Greene and Edward Bulmer colours, each one sampled and signed off in the room itself.

It was a return visit, after an earlier commission gilding the Hall’s exterior in 2021. The entrance now does what a livery hall entrance should: it tells the visitor what kind of building they have walked into before a single portrait comes into view.

The enriched cornice was gilded in 23.5ct double-thickness leaf. More than a thousand books of gold went into the two spaces.

Stencilling the star coffers of the corridor ceiling. Each panel was set out by hand.

A finished coffer: the stencilled star in two blues, framed by gold and red lines.

Mahogany doors lined in gold beneath the coffered ceiling; the fine lines were pulled by hand.

The corridor ceiling: regilded roses, gold-lined panels and the star coffers beyond.