A year of celebration

16th February 2026 marked the 555th anniversary of The Dyers’ Company’s first Charter of Incorporation, granted by Henry VI of England in 1471.

We celebrated in fitting style, even on a wet, wintry Monday evening, with our Charter Day Evensong at St James Garlickhythe, where the choir led us in fine voice. We were very grateful for a thoughtful sermon from Andrew Nunn, Dean Emeritus of Southwark Cathedral. He reflected on the colour The Dyers’ Company has brought to life over the centuries, and on the timely coincidence of Collop Monday, traditionally a day for eating meat before Shrove Tuesday.

And eat we certainly did. A celebratory feast at Dyers’ Hall followed, where members and guests made merry well into the evening. The Prime Warden, Mike Mathieson, spoke engagingly about the Company today and its predecessors in 1471, observing that we share rather more with our forebears than one might at first imagine.

The illustration above depict Dyers’ Wharf in 1471, as imagined by Midjourney AI using 100 historical data points.