Aldersgate and St Botolph Without

The Company has enjoyed a long association with the Church of St Botolph-without-Aldersgate, no doubt due to its location, opposite the old Cooks’ Hall. Members of the Company have served in the Office of Churchwarden and been baptized in the church while panels in the church refer to donations made by the Company in the 19 th and 20 th Centuries. In 2000, the Company made a substantial donation to renovate the fabric of the church.

The church is traditionally used for the Guilds services. Since 1989 the Company has re-established the practice of having a service on Candlemas day.

It is not known whether the early fraternity of Cooks had religious connections as no documents exist, however the Pastelers Ordinances of 1495 required ‘every brother of the Fellowship to attend an appointed Church on the Feast of Holy Cross (14 th September) to hear mass and make an offering of a penny…’