Nails, Knives and Horseshoes - a rent payment like no other

The City of London is no stranger to quirky customs and ceremonies, no alien to ancient offices or the parading of artefacts from centuries past. The Ceremony of the Quit rents combines all these elements in an annual rite that has been conducted since at least the early 13th century; only the Coronation ceremony is older and that certainly does not happen annually. 

In October of 2022 I was honoured to be invited to witness the ceremony as guest of one of the City's Sheriffs, Andrew Marsden, to whom I am most indebted for a privileged insight into this time-honoured tradition. 

The Ceremony of the Quit rents is held every year at the Royal Courts of Justice, Kings Bench division, and presided over by the King's Remembrancer (not to be confused with the City Remembrancer) who is the last vestige of the Court of Exchequer and the oldest judicial office in the Kingdom. 

Note: There is another, unrelated, Quit Rents ceremony for the Guildable Manor of Southwark. The King's Remembrancer also presides at that event. Further details can be seen in this YouTube clip. The King's Remembrancer participates in another City ceremony by swearing in the jury for the annual trial of the pyx at Goldsmiths' Hall.

The Ceremony of the Quit Rents at the Royal Courts of Justice involves the City of London paying its rent for two pieces of land that it does not use, the precise location of which nobody knows, and the reasons the City once rented these lands is lost in time. The lands are anciently recorded as the Moors somewhere south of Brignorth in Shropshire (an area of 200 acres of mixed pasture, meadow and other land), and the Forge in Tweezer's (or Twizzer's) Alley in the area of the Strand, south of St Clement Danes in London. Originally these lands were held in petty serjeanty, that is a form of feudal tenure for which a duty or other service is paid rather than monies. In this case the presentation of the required artefacts to the Crown is the rent. At some point in time the tenancy of these two pieces of land transferred to the City of London Corporation.

If that were not peculiar enough, the nature of the rent takes us into the realm of the bizarre. No money changes hands rather the City pays its annual rent with 6 horseshoes large enough for a stout war horse, 61 nails, and 2 knives (one sharp, one blunt) which tested for their sharpness and bluntness on a hazel twig which must be a cubit in length and the thickness of the King's Remembrancer's forefinger. This payment is made with a mix of solemnity and frivolity, as the City Solicitor tries out the knives on the hazel twig with much vigour. The fist knife fails to break the twig and the City Solicitor shakes his head glumly, but the second makes a clean cut, the two parts of the twig are held aloft and the King's Remembrancer declares 'Good Service'. While the knives have been replaced over the year, and the current pair were presented by the Cutlers' Company, the were first recorded in a book of fees dated 1211 in payment for the Moors; the Forge in Twizzer's Alley has been paid for with the nails and horseshoes since 1235. As befits the settlement of feudal rents, the table on which the payment is made is laid with a black and white chequered cloth.

Horseshoe and silver facsimile nail with jewel. Photograph copyright Joshua Fincher 2022.

Note: In times past the 'knives' employed were a billhook (the blunt knife) and a hand-axe (the sharp knife) although records show the original blunt knife was bent through its inability to cut the hazel twig, so a return to a more convention knife design has been adopted. The cutting of the hazel twig results in one part being retained by the Crown, the other being retained by the City as a form of receipt for payment.

The next props to make their appearance in this pecuniary pantomime are the horseshoes which were made in 1361, just a few years after the formation of the Worshipful Company of Farriers, who oversee the register of Master Farriers to this day. It appears likely they were made by an apprentice but are considered advanced for their time. The nails also date from the same era as the horseshoes, but invariably prove more difficult to count. Each batch of ten nails is wrapped in cloth and counted allowed, but the City Solicitor fails to find the 61st nail, searches the pockets of his robe, and suit, producing various humorous items in the process, and after much huffing and puffing the 61st nail is found - hurrah! The King's Remembrancer concludes the formal proceedings with the pronouncement 'Good Number'.

While the formal part of the ceremony is concluded in a matter of five minutes, the audience is further treated to a lecture by a guest speaker on a topic of relevance to the history of the City before retiring to the Middle Temple with the King's Remembrancer, the Sheriffs and the civic party for drinks and canapés.

The Sheriffs, King's Remembrancer, Common Serjeant of London and guests enter Middle Temple following the Quit Rents ceremony. Photograph copyright Paul D Jagger 2022.

Silver reproduction nail of the original iron nails, fitted in the horseshoe. Photograph copyright Joshua Fincher 2022.

The Quit Rents ceremony is is also the occasion when the City's two Sheriffs are presented with their Royal Warrants, their good character and bona fides having first been 'defended' by the Serjeant-at-Law in the Common Hall (aka. Common Serjeant of London). His Majesty having exercised no veto to stay the appointment of the Livery's chosen Sheriffs for the year ensuing the Sheriffs receive their warrants but more on that aspect of the ceremony will follow in another blog article. For now, we return to the business of nails, knives and horseshoes.

It was my singular good fortune to attend the ceremony on the occasion when a young apprentice blacksmith by the name of Joshua Fincher was present. Joshua studied the ceremony as part of his apprenticeship, written about it in his dissertation, and manufactured facsimiles of the nails, horse shoes and knives which were on display in court room no. 4 prior to the formal commencement of proceedings.

The Royal Courts of Justice sit just to the east of the old site of Temple Bar. Photograph copyright Paul D Jagger 2022.

An empty court room no. 4 in the Royal Courts of Justice

Joshua's silver nails were studded with a jewel, and designed to be worn as a brooch, indeed one was presented to the King's Remembrancer (Master Barbara Fontaine, Senior Master of the King's Bench Division). You can find out more about Joshua's nails here, a limited quantity are available for purchase.

Silver nail presented as a brooch. Photography copyright Joshua Fincher 2022

Because the Quit Rents ceremony is a judicial process held in court, filming and photography was not permitted during proceedings. The scene in court was everything one might expect of an ancient rite performed in a Victorian theatre of English common law. The judge sat centre stage in her long bottomed wig atop which rested a small black tricorn hat of a cursitor baron (hats were otherwise 'optional' for ladies); the court officials in their robes and short wigs, the benches packed with smartly dressed 'witnesses', the Common Serjeant suitably attired as the learned counsel, and the Sheriffs led in by a uniformed court usher. To the sides of the serried ranks of pews were bookshelves packed with leather bound court records; to the judge's left an empty dock enclosed by an iron frame.

Two knives, one sharp, one blunt. Photography copyright Joshua Fincher 2022.

Once the court proceedings are over, the horseshoes, nails and knives return to the safe in the King's Remembrancer's office to be handed back to the City the following year, and so this curious annual rent payment continues as it has for over eight centuries.

Thank you to Joshua Fincher on Finton & Sons, Blacksmiths, of Herefordshire, for his kind permission to use several photos in this article, and for providing various historical facts to support my research. 

Want to learn more about the Livery Companies and the City of London?

The City of London Freeman's Guide is the definitive concise guide to the City of London and its ancient and modern Livery Companies, their customs, traditions, officers, events and landmarks. Available in full colour hardback and eBook formats and now in its fifth or Platinum Jubilee edition. The guide is available online from Apple (as an eBook), Amazon (in hardback or eBook) Payhip (in ePub format) or Etsy (in hardback or hardback with the author's seal attached). Also available from all major City of London tourist outlets and bookstores. Bulk purchase enquiries are welcome from Livery Companies, Guilds, Ward Clubs and other City institutions and businesses.

The City of London Freeman's Guide - Platinum Jubilee edition

I welcome polite feedback and constructive comment on all my blog articles. If you spot and error or omission, please do let me know (please illustrate with verifiable facts linked to an authoritative source where appropriate).

I ask that all persons who wish to comment take the time to register as I receive copious spam and postings from crackpot conspiracy nuts which would otherwise overwhelm my blog with rubbish and nonsense.