Carpenters Company Boundary Marker in Stratford Park dating from 1849.

The Worshipful Company of Carpenters is one of the ancient livery companies of the City of London. It can trace its origins to the thirteenth century as a medieval trade guild established to look after the welfare and interests of carpenters living and working in London. The Company received its first Royal Charter in 1477 and, in 1515, was ranked 26 in order of precedence out of the 48 City Livery Companies then existing.

In 1767 the Carpenters' Company purchased "a freehold farm consisting of 63 acres of marsh land tithe free lying in the parish of West Ham" for 3,000 guineas (£3,150). The farm, close to the tiny Essex village of Stratford, sold vegetables and milk in London's markets, providing a healthy income for the Company.

The Company's careful management of its property and investments continued into the nineteenth century and its growing prosperity was boosted considerably as property values and rents in London increased. The Company also benefited from the country's general economic growth and the highly profitable sale of land to the Great Eastern Railway and other railway companies between 1830 and 1870.

In 1839 the construction of the Eastern Counties Railway line through the area saw revenues from agricultural lands fall, prompting the Company to lease the land for industrial and residential use.

In 1861 the first leases were taken, and trades such as matchmaking, linen manufacture, chemical processing and distilling developed on the estate. Some of the factories and warehouses were built by the Carpenters' Company, as were the 600 workers cottages in Carpenters Road and the neighbouring streets. The Stratford estate remained a centre of industry, with individual plots and units being let and sub-let with great fluidity.

By the 1870s, the Company's increased wealth enabled it to become more involved in charitable and educational activities. It was a founder member of the City and Guilds of London Institute in 1880 along with a number of other City livery companies, reflecting the Company's growing interest in technical education.

In 1886, the Company opened an evening institute on its Stratford estate, offering classes in carpentry, joinery, plumbing, geometry, mechanical drawing and cookery. By 1891, the institute had become a day school for boys until its closure in 1905 when the local council opened its own school.

In 1890, the Company helped create a body for woodwork instructors and other craftsmen, known today as the Institute of Carpenters. The Institute was founded by 11 craftsmen who had achieved high grades in the Company's examinations. Its role was to oversee training for carpenters and joiners at a time when many feared traditional skills were being lost. The Company established its own Trades' Training School in 1893, now the Building Crafts College, in the West End of London. It relocated to a purpose-built building in Stratford, East London, in 2001 and continues to represent the Company's commitment to training in the woodworking crafts.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, technical examinations, lectures and exhibitions on woodworking and joinery were regularly held at Carpenters' Hall. After the Second World War, interest in the technical examinations declined, and in 1955 the Company launched an annual Carpenters' Craft Competition which still runs today.

In addition to commerce and housing, parts of the estate have been host to a wider variety of uses: the Carpenters' Technical Institute gave hundreds of boys education in carpentry, plumbing, and related subjects between 1886 and 1905, and both the Carpenters' Institute and the Carpenters' and Docklands Youth Centre have provided social and recreational facilities for local residents since, the Second World War.

In the Second World War, a small number of units and approximately one third of the estate's cottages were destroyed by enemy action.  After the war some of these sites were levelled to create room for new residential and commercial properties, and all residential accommodation was compulsorily purchased by the local authority in the 1960s.

The present-day Carpenters' and Dockland Centre grew from the Carpenters' Institute, originally set up as a social facility in the early twentieth century, and continues to receive considerable support from the Company.

The Carpenters' Company today remains true to the spirit of its founders. It continues to support a broad range of charitable and educational activities, and to encourage and promote the highest standards of woodworking craftsmanship

In 2004 the Company drew up new Standing Orders, allowing female members to become Livery members for the first time.

Today, the Carpenters' Company continues its ceremonial and business functions. It  buys and sells land and property in order to maintain its charitable activities, which include supporting the Charitable Trust and Building Crafts College.