{Below the relief there is a separate stone, inscribed:}
When yu have sought the Citty Round
Yet still this is the highst ground
August the 27, 1688
{Note that some of the letters have been inscribed above the text as if they had been left out by accident and added later: the "u" of "yu", the "t" of "sought", the "t" of "highst".}
This naked boy sitting on his pannier (basket) is thought to refer to the bakers in the area selling their wares on the street from a bread basket.
There seems to be general agreement that this is not the highest point in the City as claimed; that is a foot higher, in Cornhill. The mis-spellings and corrections in the text on the lower stone are rather quaint and initially made us suspicious of its authenticity. Our suspicions have been allayed partly by comparison with two other plaques of similar date: Guy, Earl of Warwick and St Olave, Silver Street - destroyed.
has an excellent post on old London signs, which includes early photos of the Warwick plaque and the Boy and Panyer.
gives the history of this plaque, at least from 1892.
Our colleague, Steve Roffey, found a plate from St. John Adcock's 'London Memories', published February 1931, which shows this relief and the stone below with the caption: "The Panyer Stone - Panyer Alley, Paternoster Row, now framed and glazed." The lower stone is shown with narrow decorative panels either side and something like a shelf between it and the relief above, all in stone.
Site: Boy and panyer (1 memorial)
EC1, Panyer Alley
The Vintners' Company, who own this relic, protected it from the bombs of WW2 by securing it in the vaults of the Central Criminal Court.
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