mentioned in stow's survey of london of 1598/1603, the pannier boy is the property of the city livery company of the vintners. a corn market was nearby, and the boy seems to be crushing grapes between hand and foot, in fact , the boy used to be known as pick-my-toe. panyer alley is in fact not the highest ground in the city, cornhill is 2 ft. higher above sea level. 1688 seems to be the date of restoration.