June 20th 2016
Wonderful displays of flowers arranged by Liveryman Stephen Crisp and his team greeted the many members of the Company who attended the Gardeners' Harvest Festival at the magnificent Temple Church, London. Beautiful organ music recitals and heartily sung hymns were the order of the day.
Master Bernard Williams read the lesson - the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. The history of the Magna Carta, its contents and connection with the Temple were fully and entertainingly explained in an address by the Master of the Temple Church, The Reverend and Valiant Robin Griffith-Jones, wearing a splendid embroidered cape specially commissioned to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the signing of the historic document.
The service concluded with a rousingly sung National Anthem. Members and their guests then walked to the Yacht moored on the Thames, and a convivial time was spent on board, and the Master welcomed four new Liverymen and one new Freeman.