No. 61 Vintry Ward Volunteer

Vintry is one of the 25 wards of the City of London. (See maps – click to expand). Located within it is the City end of Southwark Bridge and, adjacent to that, the hall of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, the City livery company for the wine trade. The ward’s boundary is formed by Cannon Street to the north, College Hill and Cousin Lane to the east, the River Thames to the south, and its western edge follows an unusual line along part of Little Trinity Lane, Lambeth Hill and Distaff Lane.
The Christopher Wren-designed church St James Garlickhythe is within Vintry ward, near Mansion House tube station. In medieval times, French wine and garlic were landed at the nearby Garlickhythe (‘garlic dock’). This circumstance led to the church being part of the route for English pilgrims travelling to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, which is sacred to the memory of St James the Great. The ward contained Whittington’s Longhouse, a 128-seat public toilet gifted by Dick Whittington.