The ceremony dates again to 1343, when the annual presentation of a boar’s head was agreed in fee for a parcel of land acquired by the Butchers Firm. It takes place every year, shortly after the brand new Lord Mayor – or on this case, Girl Mayor – has taken up their yr of workplace.
This yr’s presentation was led by Grasp Gwyn Howells, who was elected to the position in September 2025.
The custom was began within the 14th century when the monks at Greyfriars Monastery complained to the Metropolis Authorities that butchers have been throwing away offal and ordure within the public avenue. In 1343, the Metropolis Authorities gave the butchers a chunk of land subsequent to the Fleet (Flete) river to scrub their livestock’s entrails and granted them permission to eliminate the offal within the ‘Fleet Ditch’.
In return, the butchers have been required, in perpetuity, to restore and preserve a wharf and render a boar’s head every year to the Lord Mayor of London at their very own value.
Now, the paraded head offered is a copy, however the Grasp of the Butchers nonetheless presents an actual boar’s head to the Lord Mayor in Mansion Home in a personal ceremony as fee for a chunk of land the Livery now not makes use of or rents!
This yr, attendees loved a lunch of British pork sausages and mash, with the sausages equipped by D. Parker & Son Butchers, made with pork equipped by Cherryfield (Croydon) Ltd. Following the procession, attendees arrived on the Mansion Home at 3pm, the place they witnessed the paying of the lease because the boar’s head was offered to the Girl Mayor by the Grasp.
