St Matthew’s Day at the Guildhall

This lunchtime I walked down to the London Guildhall to eat my lunch. When I arrived I could see some kind of event was in progress.

Judging by the Rolls Royce limousines parked in the corner, the Lord Mayor was talking part.

It turned out the event happening was the end of the annual St Matthew’s Day parade by the pupils of Christ’s Hospital, an independent school. The pupils and teachers involved were in the London Guildhall where the Lord Mayor was giving a speech

Christ’s Hospital (popularly known as The Bluecoat School, and also by the nicknames “Housey” and “CH”) is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England.

It is a charity school, giving children from poorer backgrounds the chance to have a better education. The school was originally founded in the 16th century in Greyfriars, London and Hertford. At the event, there was a mix of families from a range of social and ethnic backgrounds. Despite the occasion it didn’t feel like an exclusive event.

Links with the City and the Lord Mayor of London are maintained, with an annual parade through the City of London on St. Matthew’s Day and a regular place in the Lord Mayor’s Show.

At the end of the event in the guildhall, the Lord Mayor’s party left in the two Rolls Royces