* the “Whittington Stone” & all about the ‘real’ -“Dick Whittington”

THE WHITTINGTON STONE…………….

Last week, my London Shoes undertook a ‘two-parter’ – the first trek out was conducted under grey, cloudy, rainy, cold and miserable London skies – the second part was undertaken in more decent conditions.

First off, London Shoes set off to a specific location in North London for the purpose of tracking down, what some might view as just a minor little-known landmark.

However – as sometimes happens with some of the stuff I knock-out, there is often a backstory that totally opens up the topic in question – and this was certainly the case with this particular blog – which required a second day out on the road, to complete the ‘story’ in the way it needed to be told.

So – this Shoes article is all about the “Whittington Stone” located in Archway-London N19 – and also the person it’s all about – namely ‘Dick Whittington’.

The Whittington Stone is a monumental stone that stands in the middle of the pavement at the bottom of Highgate Hill.

It was erected in 1821 and is said to represent the spot where the legendary ‘Dick Whittington’ – upon leaving London (with his Cat for company), having lost his fortune in the City – heard the bells of St. Mary-le-Bow some four & a half miles away – and believed that they were calling him back and telling him “Turn again Whittington – thrice Lord Mayor of London”.

RICHARD WHITTINGTON

Although the story of ‘Dick Whittington’ is a well-known one, through children’s books and pantomimes etc – a Dick Whittington really did exist, and in real life he was more of a legend and hero than his popular fictional character…..and his is an interesting story.

‘Richard Whittington’ was born in 1354, into a reasonably wealthy family from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.

His Dad was a Member of Parliament as were his older brothers.

Because of his father’s standing and connections – the young Richard Whittington was packed off to London to undertake an apprenticeship to become a ‘Mercer’ in the City. Mercers were merchants or traders who dealt in cloth, mainly fine quality cloth that was not produced locally. References to ‘Mercers’ can still be seen in the City of London to this very day – that’s how important they were in the creation of London as a powerful trade centre.

Whittington became an extremely successful businessman, dealing in the import and export of silks, velvets and other luxury clothing material.

His customers included the Royalty and nobility of the day.

He was also one of the leading exporter of fine quality English wool to Europe.

Records exist that show Richard Whittington sold £3,500 worth of luxury goods to King Richard II – the equivalent today would be somewhere around £3.2 million – so, he was an extremely wealthy man.

By 1384 Richard Whittington was appointed ‘Sheriff of London’.

In 1397 he was promoted to ‘Lord Mayor of London’ – a role that he succeeded in – Whittington even became a lender to the ‘Crown’.

In 1416 Richard Whittington became the MP for the City of London.

In 1402 Richard Whittington married ‘Alice Fitzwaryn’ – who came from a very distinguished and wealthy family – who were massive landowners in Dorset.

Sadly, Alice Fitzwaryn died after only 9 years of married life – the couple never had any children.

Richard Whittington died in 1423 at the age of 68.

He was buried in the church of ‘St.Michael Paternoster Royal’ in the City of London – a church that Whittington had donated loads of money to – so it was only right that he was laid to rest there.

The church was destroyed in the 1666 Great Fire of London – and it was subsequently rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren.

It was damaged again during the WW2 Blitz – and rebuilt yet again.

The original tomb that Richard Whittington is buried in, has been built over many times throughout the centuries – but following the WW2 bomb damage – when the church was being sorted out and cleared up – a mummified cat was found in the church tower.

The story soon got round that this mummified cat was Richard Whittington’s famous cat, his faithful companion throughout all the children’s stories.

However, although that would have been the perfect story – it just wasn’t true – as the mummified cat actually dated back to the time of Wren’s rebuild of the church.

The ‘real’ Dick Whittington was an extremely influential and wealthy man, who throughout his lifetime donated vast sums of his personal wealth to fund such projects as:-

*the rebuilding of Guildhall

*a ward for unmarried mothers at St.Thomas’s Hospital

*a drainage system for Billingsgate Fish Market

*a public toilet that was cleaned by the Thames

Upon his death – because he had no children, records show that his estate was valued at around £6M in today’s money – which was used to finance projects such as:-

*a rebuild of Newgate Prison

*a Library for the Guildhall

*major repairs to St.Barts Hospital

*London’s very first public drinking fountain

*various Almshouses for the elderly.

Today – ‘Whittington Hospital’ in Archway N19 – is named after him.

Because of his generosity and all the good things that he did for the City of London and its inhabitants – Richard Whittington was as revered in death as he was when he was alive – and that is how the legend of Dick Whittington evolved over the next centuries.

In 1604 a stage play entitled “The history of Richard Whittington – his low-byrth and his great fortune” was written about his life, and it became a very popular crowd puller.

In the 1800’s this play had developed into a ‘Pantomime’ – and was entitled “Dick Whittingham & his Cat”.

The panto script has ‘Dick’ originating from a poor Gloucestershire family and being chucked out of the family home as a youngster – and so, with his pet cat in tow – he heads off to London to seek his fame and fortune.

In the panto story, nothing goes right for him in London, he loses everything, – and so has no option that to admit defeat and walk all the way back to the family home in Gloucestershire, a complete and utter failure.

But – as he starts to ascend Highgate Hill, he is stopped by the sound of the bells of St. Mary-le-Bow Church, four & a half miles away in the City of London – and he is convinced that they are calling to him personally, telling him to “Turn again Whittington-thrice Mayor of London”.

As a result of this, Dick Whittington returns to London where he and his cat experience many adventures. Dick Whittington becomes so successful he eventually ends up becoming Lord Mayor of London, not just once, but for 3 times.

The Dick Whittington panto story is very far removed from the life of the real Richard Whittington – who actually ended up becoming Lord Mayor of London on 4 occasions.

So – bringing things right up to date and returning to the “Whittington Stone” on Highgate Hill – contained within its display cage is the 1821 tablet of Portland stone on which is inscribed: –

Whittington Stone.
Sir Richard Whittington,
Thrice Lord Mayor
of London.
1397. Richard II.
1406. Henry IV.
1420. Henry V.
Sheriff in 1393.

The inscription on the brass plaque screwed to the base of the monument says: – 1964 Whittington’s Cat presented by Mr & Mrs Paul Crosfield, Donald Bisset and Friends.

The stone was laid in 1821 – and in 1935, the stone tablet was cleaned up and restored by local stonemason ‘W.Hillier’

The cat sculpture was added to the monument in 1964.

The commemorative stone has been ‘Listed’ since 1972.

Now – here is a classic example of where a simple Shoes blog takes a totally unexpected turn.

There I was, down at my local social club in Romford – chatting to my good mate Lee and telling him all about my Whittington Stone blog – when Lee declared that his Gt Gt Grandad was the person who restored the Whittington Stone back in 1935 – his ancestor was the W.Hillier !!!!…….now what were the chances of that.

So – having legged it up to North London to track down the Whittington Stone – the 2^nd part of this blog was spending a day wandering around the City, retracing the life/times and legacy of the real ‘Richard Whittington’.

Whilst up in Cheapside I visited the centuries old St. Mary-le-Bow church, last rebuilt in 1666 following the Great Fire of London.

This magnificent old church is steeped in history. It’s the church that defines a proper ‘Cockney’ – if you are born within the sound of ‘Bow Bells’ – then you are a true Cockney.

But, of course – the other thing St.Mary-le-Bow is famous for, is that, in the world of fiction, it is the Church who’s bells Dick Whittington heard when walking up Highgate Hill – that were telling him to return to London and make his fortune.

Whilst taking a look inside St.Mary-le-Bow church, I visited the café in their crypt, where I enjoyed a ‘cheeky’ cup of Earl Grey with a slice of banana cake.

Whilst visiting the Whittington Stone up in Archway-North London – I called in to the famous old pub “Archway Tavern” for a couple of ‘cheeky’ Guinness’s.

The Archway Tavern is on Highgate Hill near Archway tube station.  There’s been a pub on the site since the 1700s, with the current building being built in 1888.

In 2014 the Archway Tavern was closed for a number of years because of some sort of licensing issue – but with problems solved It eventually re-opened in 2021.

Interestingly, the interior of the Archway Tavern was used as the cover of  The Kinks 1971 studio album ‘Muswell Hillbillies’.

So – that’s the Dick Whittington blog – started life as being just a simple short & sweet blog topic – that then developed into so much more.

Hope you enjoyed this article and its accompanying photos.

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See below the full and extensive gallery of photos taken to support this blog