Nails to the Queen (and other odd rents)
Last month, continuing an 800-year tradition, the city of London paid Queen Elizabeth rent owed on two pieces of property — transactions so old that the exact locations of the properties are unclear. The payments, called “Quit Rents,” once had meaning, but are now ceremonial.
1
Billhook — a knife-like tool (photo) — and an axe remitted for use of land in Shropshire
1211
Year the Shropshire land rental began
61
Nails given to the Queen’s representative as rent for land near what is now the Royal Courts of Justice
6
Oversized horseshoes that are also paid, in a transaction that dates to 1235