Saturday 18 July 2026
Cart Marking was the earliest form of vehicle licensing. Today it showcases a truly unique collection of transport dating from the horse and cart to the latest, cleanest, greenest, and safest in use today.
You can apply to enter a vehicle online or by using our downloadable form. Before doing so, please read the Entry Requirements on this page.
Click here to use our online vehicle entry form and submit it by Monday 30 March 2026
Click here for a printable vehicle entry form – and follow the instructions provided on the form
To advertise in our programme – click here
The regulation of carts dates back over 750 years to the early days of the City. A ‘Cart’, in today’s terms, is a vehicle used to transport freight or passengers, for hire or reward.
Having paid for a licence, a mark would be burnt onto your wooden cart to allow that cart to ply for trade ‘for hire or reward’ for the forthcoming year. To enable that cart to continue in use, a new mark would be branded each year on payment of the licence fee.
Back then the licence fee would have been five shillings (5/- or 25p today). What is five shillings compared to today’s £850 road tax for a heavy articulated lorry?
Five shillings is still paid to the City of London today for each vehicle that passes through Guildhall Arch!
Marking is done by branding (or burning) a letter for the forthcoming year on to a wooden block which is attached to the ‘Cart’.
Nowadays, we bring history back to life with a modern twist at our annual event, held each July.
Vehicles are no longer limited to wooden carts, of course; expect to see horse-drawn carriages, steam engines, fire engines, vans, ambulances, bicycles, removal vans, electric trucks. It is essentially a timeline on wheels — a ‘wheelie’ eclectic mix!
Vehicles make their way to Guildhall Yard where they are greeted by the Lord Mayor of London, the masters of two City livery companies and the Keeper of the Guildhall, all wearing their official robes and insignia.
As each vehicle is presented for marking, a commentator tells us about its history and relevance today.
You can view the Cart Marking ceremony on our YouTube channel using this link