Knollys Rose Ceremony

A single red rose is snipped from the garden in Seething Lane, placed on an altar cushion from All Hallows-by-the-Tower and carried in procession west to the Mansion House where it is presented to the Lord Mayor of London.

[1][2][3] Sir Robert Knolles (c. 1325 – 15 August 1407) was an important English knight of the Hundred Years' War and was a prominent citizen of London.

While he was away, possibly in 1380, his wife, Constance, purchased the threshing ground on the East side of the road opposite their house and turned it into a rose garden.

The official record says "To all persons who these present letters shall see or hear, the Mayor Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of London Greeting, know ye that we have granted unto Messire[4] Robert Knolles Knight, our dear and well beloved fellow citizen, and to Constance his wife, leave to make a Haut-pas of the height of 14 feet extending from the house of the said Robert and Constance his wife on the west side thereof to another house to them belonging on the east side thereof, beyond the lane of Syvendenlane in the parish of All Hallows Berkyngechirche, near the Tower of London, rendering yearly to the Chamberlain of the Guild Hall of the said City for the time being one red rose at the feast of St. John the Baptist.

The garden in Seething Lane, which has connections with Samuel Pepys, was owned by the Port of London Authority and reopened in 2018 as part of the redevelopment of Trinity Square.