60. The Tudor Pull

Sunday 16 April saw the annual Tudor Pull. What is that about, you may well ask, and how are the Water Conservators involved?

The ceremonial commemorates the sale of the Conservancy of the Thames to the City of London in 1197 to help fund the ‘King’s Ransom’ for King Richard I who had (rather fecklessly) allowed himself to be taken hostage whilst travelling back from Crusade. (Our presentation of a jug of Thames Water to the Lord Mayor commemorates the same event - see Master’s Blog 2).

The Tudor Pull involves inter alia a ‘stela’ made (in 1997 the 800th anniversary of said Ransom) by the Company of Watermen and Lightermen out of a piece of medieval wooden water pipe supplied by the Water Conservators. The Master Waterman and the Master Water Conservator jointly pick up this stela at Hampton Court Palace from whence we undertake to transport it back safely by river, escorted by Company cutters and other vessels, to the Governor of the Tower of London, where it is safely stored for the ensuing year.

The ceremonial at Hampton Court involves the formal acceptance of the stela by the Master Waterman followed by a blessing from the Chaplain of the Palace and a toast (this year in champagne) by the Master Water Conservator. At the Tower, the gate is closed against our arrival until the Master Water Conservator states our business after which we are admitted and the Master Waterman, with some relief, passes the stela back to the Governor of the Tower. (Blog 60a gives the formal text of the two ceremonies).

This year’s event went most smoothly despite many headwinds in the planning. Because of adverse rowing conditions due to the heavy rainfall earlier in the week it was not possible to row the stela the whole way from Hampton Court. Your Master and Consort, the Thames Warden and Consort and the Master Waterman (our dear friend Sir David Wootton) therefore conveyed the stela by Uber taxi to Richmond to join the escorting flotilla.


The stela plus the two Masters and Consort were there safely boarded on the Port Health Authority’s powered launch the Londinium III, which led the flotilla on the 3 and a half hour journey downstream to the Tower; we sadly missed the thrill of being rowed but consoled ourselves by some further champagne and wine, whilst offering encouragement to the following oarsmen and oarswomen. The Thames Warden and Consort gallantly followed on in the Company’s own Water Forget Me Not which headed the subsequent group of cutters, bravely weathering some very choppy water over the last mile or so.


The event is an important part of our Company calendar and of the traditions of the River Thames. It was a wonderful day. Hopefully next year rowing conditions will be more favourable and the planning less complicated, so that more Company members may be able to attend, whether at Hampton Court or the Tower or along the route.

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