In the dead of night, a crucial practice run for the Lord Mayor's Show

       By Luke Hanrahan: ITV London Reporter

As London slept this morning, its streets were transformed during a crucial practice run, in the dead of night, for the Lord Mayor's Show.

A gilded coach, drawn by six shire horses, wound its way through the capital.

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Tens of thousands will line the streets to watch an event which dates back to 1189, the official ceremony to acknowledge the new Lord Mayor. So the pressure is on to get it right.

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We do this specifically for two purposes. One is to take the Lord Mayor through his paces because he is somebody who doesn't have any experience of this. He's not a soldier. He's not a member of the Royal Family. He doesn't know how to inspect a Guard of Honour. So he's got to rehearse that.

We're also taking a team of horses through it because you've got a team of six horses and it's a very specific configuration of horses.

– DOMINIC REID - PAGEANTMASTER, THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW

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The Lord Mayor elect began his 4am journey around the oldest parts of town.

Credit: ITV News

The Lord Mayor is the ambassador for financial services. About 5% of his time is doing ceremonial stuff. The rest is out selling the country.

– ALAN YARROW, LORD MAYOR ELECT

Despite the early hour a few Londoners were up, some were bemused. Others were just getting on with their jobs but most were amazed by what they saw.

So if you thought you saw a Lord in a funny hat inside a gilded horse drawn carriage you weren't dreaming. The real thing takes place on Saturday.

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The Magna Carta - 1297

The Magna Carta is a document of basic rights. The 1297 copy is in the Guildhall Art Gallery 

Originally issued in 1215, it was the first document forced onto a king of England by his subjects as they sought to protect their basic rights. 

It was redrafted three times (1216, 1217 and 1225) and finally confirmed as English law in 1297. Most parts have been repealed; however, 

Clause 1, securing the freedom of the English church;

Clause 9, guaranteeing the 'ancient liberties' of the City of London, and 

Clause 29, the right to due process, are still in force today.

The City of London played an active role in the events that led to the creation of the Magna Carta, and is the only City to be mentioned on it. 

"The City of London shall have all its ancient liberties by land as well as water"

The City was later granted the right to appoint a Lord Mayor, and part of his duties were to ensure that the provisions of the charter were carried out.

Judges look at the City of London's 1297 copy of the Magna Carta in a carriage during the Lord Mayor's show in London November 8, 2014. The manuscript was part of the annual procession marking the start of its 800 year anniversary in 1215

See: http://magnacarta800th.com/

Magna Carta takes centre stage at The Lord Mayors Show video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEPUdQtEJS4&feature=youtube_gdata_player 

The Agas Map

Also known also as the Civitas Londinum which was printed from woodblocks in about 1561, the Agas Map is the earliest known birds eye view format map of Tudor London, showing rich detail of buildings and streets in the City. The map has been attributed to Ralph Agas, who was a surveyor. Around that time maps usually showed a panoramic view.

The 1561 version no longer exists, but the Guildhall Art Gallery has a copy. A later modified version of the map was printed in 1633. In the later version, the Stuart Coat of Arms replaces the Elizabethan one, and the 1571 Royal Exchange has been added. 

The original map was around 6 feet long by 2 feet high. 

An interactive version can be found at the link below, enabling the viewer to zoom in and see close ups of the 32 sections and to search for information on churches, markets, parishes, streets, taverns etc

http://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/map.htm

Painting - 'Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar' 1782 by John Singleton Copley

This painting is based on an attack that took place in Gibraltar, 1782.

It was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British. 

Secret Spanish weapons, known as floating batteries (wooden timbers filled with layers of wet sand) were thought to be fireproof. The British used furnace-temperature heated cannonballs, nicknamed 'hot potatoes' to fire at the advancing ships, causing them to smoulder and burn.

This is the largest and most dramatic painting in the Guildhall Art Gallery, measuring 7.6 m by 5.6 m

and is one of Britains largest oil paintings. No wall was large enough to display it and it can now be seen on the entire back wall of the main exhibition space at the gallery which was built to house it. 

It was stored out of London during the Blitz, three weeks before the gallery was destroyed. 

Painting - 'Ninth of November' 1888 by William Logsdail

The Ninth of November, 1888 by William Logsdail (1890)

The painting depicts The Lord Mayors Show procession at Bank junction, with the Royal Exchange in the centre and the old Bank of England building on the left. The procession is just passing the Mansion House (not visible on right hand side)

Logsdail used professional models as the subjects, and began by painting the policemen in position in the early morning. He later positioned himself in the middle of the traffic to draw the background architecture. The Lord Mayors coach was painted whilst the horses were harnessed up at the stables, whlist the footmen and coachmen posed wearing their liveries in his studio in Primrose Hill.

He also incorporated some his friends including the painter J W Waterhouse in a brown bowler hat. Sir James Whitehead (whose Mayoral procession it had been) bought the painting for £500, on the understanding that it was to be presented to the Guildhall Art Gallery. It was eventually sold to the Corporation after his death for £250.

Close ups of the scene showing the detail of characters: a soldier in uniform, costermongers, small child and a policeman with the three Beadles leading the procession. 

It was quite poignant that on this very morning, only a half mile or so away in Spitalfields, the body of Mary Kelly, another victim of Jack the Ripper had been found. 

Guildhall Art Gallery

The Guldhall Art Gallery was originally built in 1885 and completed in 1999, to replace a building destroyed in the Blitz. It is adjacent to the Guildhall.

It houses the art collection of the City of London, documenting the history of the City. There are about 250 paintings on display at any time and works date from 1670 to the present time.

The remains of a Roman amphitheatre built in AD70 also stand on the site under the Art gallery, and this is now a protected monument. The amphitheatre was discovered by archaeologists working on the site of the new Guildhall Art Gallery building in 1988. 

Right, privileges and duties of The Lord Mayor of London

In the City of London The Lord Mayor has precedence over all except the Sovereign. 

The main role of The Lord Mayor is to represent, support and promote the businesses and residents of the City, and also serve as Chief Magistrate in the City, Is Admiral of the Port of London and Trustee of St Paul's Cathederal.

The Lord Mayor can be expected to make up to 800 speeches within the year, and can spend over 100 days abroad. 

At The Lord Mayors Banquet the Prime Minister delivers the keynote address. Other speeches are given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the Bankers Dinner in June, and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at the Easter Banquet. 

The Lord Mayor is apolitical; not involved in politics.

The Lord Mayors residence is the Mansion House built by George Dance, the Elder. 

Tours take place every Tuesday afternoon at 2pm and are one hour long.

The Lord Mayors official title is: The Right Honourable The Lord Mayor of London.

The wife of a Lord Mayor is known as Lady Mayoress.

The cost of The Lord Mayor is not bourne by the taxpayer; but by the City Fund, the City Cash (investments) and the Bridge House Estate 

Note to self: find out more about these