London Quit Rents Ceremony

Today is Quit Rents Day in London.

A Quit Rent is the process of avoiding a rent payment by offering an alternative to money. The first Quit Rents ceremony that is recorded took place in 1211, making it the oldest legal ceremony in England (apart from coronations). During the ceremony the City of London Corporation hands over two knives (traditionally an axe and billhook but now a new set of knives is made every year), 61 nails and 6 giant horseshoes to the Queen’s Remembrancer, whose job it is to collect all dues owed to the Crown. 

The thing is ... despite the same objects being presented annually for generations, no one is entirely sure what the rents are for any more as records have been lost. It's believed that one rent is for a piece of land 'somewhere' in Shropshire and that another is maybe in London - some believe it may have been a forge near the Strand. But no one knows for certain. 

During the ceremony, the horseshoes and knives are displayed on a chequered cloth before the Queen’s Remembrancer. This is a purely honorary title and the Remembrancer is the last remaining officer of the now defunct Court of Exchequer (barring the Chancellor). The Court of Exchequer was dissolved in 1672 during the reign of Charles II.

Incidentally, the cloth is where the term 'exchequer' comes from. Taxes and rents were tallied using wooden counters on a chequered cloth, rather like using an abacus. The table was 10 feet long by 5 wide and had a raised lip on all sides of about the height of four fingers to ensure that nothing fell off it. Counters were placed in the squares, each of which represented either pounds, shillings or pence. 

During the ceremony one knife is used on hazel sticks and must be blunt enough not to mark them when struck, while the other must be sharp enough to cut through the sticks – this accounts for the 'somewhere in Shropshire' location, while the shoes and nails pay for the London address. 

If all is well, the Remembrancer pronounces 'Good Service' and the items are then loaned back to the City until the following year. Two new Sheriffs will also be presented with their Warrants at the ceremony, and a relevant speech given by an invited guest. As befits the ancient traditions of the City, the Sheriffs still come by boat up the Thames as if they were bound for the ancient venue of the Court at Westminster Hall.

There's nothing quite so British as maintaining a ceremony that has no practical use to commemorate an obsolete legal function related to unknown places.

And long may it continue.