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ROYAL ARMOURIES
/ELCOME to the Royal Armouries in the Tower of London. This is now the seventh century in which ...
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I ,*
ROYAL ARMOURIES
/ELCOME to the Royal Armouries in the Tower of London. This is now the seventh century in which visitors have come to enjoy and marvel at our collections here. We who work in the Armouries are proud of our long association with the Tower of London, and proud of the work, both for the Armouries as a working arsenal and as a growing museum, that our predecessors have done here. With the move of those parts of the collection not related to the Tower of London to our new museum in Leeds we have been able completely to redisplay what has remained to tell the story of the development here of the oldest museum in Britain. It is a fascinating, sometimes surprising story, told with some superb and often beautiful objects. We hope you enjoy both your visit to our museum in the Tower, and this memento of it.
Guy Wilson MASTER OF THE ARMOURIES
From cover: GSB armour of Charles I. Dutch, about 1612: armour of Henry I 'III made in the royal workshops ai Gnaameh, 1S40. 11.91,11.8 Inside front cover: Southern aisle of the Chapel of Si John ihe Evangelist on thefirstfloor of the While Tmeer. Back cover: I'lie White 'l'otver, lite oldest part of the Timer of London, built about 1078-1100. Contents page: Section through the While 'Imver, 1729. Pnbtic Record Office, WORK M/89
n ^ (pnfetffs ^n T H E ARMOURIES AT THE TOWER
Cjages two to three THE NORMAN CONQUEST
cpagcjbur
THE TEMPORARY EXHIBITION GALLERY
cyagt twenty T H E GRAND STOREHOUSE &■ SMALL ARMOURY
eposes twenty to twenty-one THE MIDDLE AGES
cyagefhe
T H E SPANISH ARMOURY
Cpagu twenty-two re twemy-three TUDORS & STUARTS
Cpapsix
T H E LINE OF KINGS
Cyages twenty-four to twenty-five THE JSTH CENTURY
cyagt seven
THE ARTILLERY ROOM
&-THE DESTRUCTION OF T H E OFFICE OF ARMOURY
cyagt tight ARMOURS & ARSENAL OF HENRY VIII
Cjages nine to eleven
THE GRAND STOREHOUSE
cyagts twenty-six to twenty-seven T H E VICTORIANS 6/THE TOWER
tyages twenty-eight to twenty-nine ARMOURS OF THE STUART KINGS & PRINCES
cyagcs twelve to fifteen T H E BOARD OF ORDNANCE
cpages sixteen to seventeen WEAPONS OF THE ORDNANCE
(yoga eighteen to nineteen
ROYAL ARMOURIES IN LEEDS
Cyagt thirty ROYAL ARMOURIES AT FORT NELSON
cyagc thirty-one SERVICES TO VISITORS & STUDENTS
cyage thirty-two
TOWER OF LONDON I cyag "w
c
lfier>£&rmourief at ffie (Tower*
The Tower Horse Armoury from Microcosm of London by Rosclandson and Pugin,
1809. 1.287 here have always been arms and armour at the Tower. William the Conqueror's castle, begun in 1066, must have contained a garrison of soldiers, and weapons are first documented in the reign of King John (1199-1216). By the reign of Edward III (1327-77) the Tower had become an arsenal to supply the English army and navy. The Office of Ordnance emerged soon after 1400 and continued to provide weapons and equipment for British armed forces until the mid 19th century. Alongside the working arsenal, a museum began to take shape in the Tudor period. When Henry VIII came to the throne in 1509 he removed the medieval arms and armour and replaced them with up-to-date material. After his death the contents of armouries from other palaces, including some of Henry's own equipment, came to the Tower and, in 1644, during the English Civil Wars, a number of other royal armours were brought there from Greenwich Palace. The Tower Armouries received their first recorded visitor in 1489 but at first only important visitors were admitted, by special permission. After the restoration of Charles II in 1660, the paying public was
The silvered and engraved armour for man and Itorse of King Henry I'lll. made in Greemeich probably in 1515. 11.5, VI. 1-5
^yage three TOWER OF LONDON
allowed in to marvel at new displays set up to celebrate the power and splendour of English monarchy. These included the Spanish Armoury, containing instruments of torture and punishmem and other items erroneously said to have been captured from the Spanish Armada. Another attraction was the Line of Kings, consisting of mounted armoured figures representing English monarchs and backed by displays of arms and armour. The wooden horses and heads of the kings were carved by some of the leading craftsmen of the day. From 1696 the Grand Storehouse, newly completed on the north side of the Tower in 1692, housed two other exhibitions. On the first floor large numbers of the weapons in store were used to create the Small Armoury. The eye-catching patterns of weapons on walls and columns also reflected British military might. Similarly, numerous cannon captured by or used by British armed forces were
Royal Armoury in the Tower of London, a hand-coloured engraving of 1822 showing the Small Armoury on the first floor of the Grand Storehouse. 1.287
shown in the Artillery Room on the ground floor. Increasing scholarship in the early 19th century resulted not only in the redesign of the Line of Kings and Spanish Armoury but also the purchase of objects to augment the collections. In 1841, however, most of the material in the Grand Storehouse was unfortunately destroyed in a great fire. After the demise of the Ordnance in 1855 the Armouries passed to the VX'ar Office, and Ordnance buildings were pulled down as the Tower was restored to a 'medieval" appearance. In 1904 the Armouries was transferred to the care of the Office of Works. Between the world wars it became a national museum, and in 1985 Her Majesty the Queen consented that it should become the Royal Armouries. In 1996 a large part of the collection transferred to a new museum site in Leeds, Yorkshire, the galleries within the Tower being redesigned to tell the story of the Armouries
Detail of a British Short Land Pattern musket of about 1785. xil.3090
in the Tower, the oldest museum in England.
Armouries displays in the White Tomer about 1900.
TOVPER OF LONDON cpagcfour
Artist's impression of the southern entrance in the Norman period.
The White Tower originally consisted of three floors each divided into three rooms. The basement was used for storage. The main entrance to the keep was on the south side, above ground for ostentation and opening into the larger western room at this level. This was presumably a hall, the smaller adjoining room forming a great chamber leading to the present crypt, then no doubt a chapel. Above was the main floor, with its hall and great chamber giving access to the Artist's impression of the chapel in the Xorman period.
chapel of St John, one of the earliest Romanesque chapels in England. This floor was open to pitched roofs and would have formed an impressive area for state receptions. The smoke-stained line of these original roofs can be seen from the later inserted top floor. Soon after completion the walls were extended up to protect the roofs, and included passages for access with arches to reduce the weight.
. . .
.
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,
,
,
Artist s impression of how the upper eastern chamber might have appeared in about 1120.
Chapel
Entrance
Cjn&five; TOWER OF LONDON'
ifirMiddle'jfyrf n the 12th century the Tower of London was extended westwards and a forebuilding was erected against the south side of the White Tower to protect and enhance the entrance. To the east of the White Tower. along the line of the old city wall, a tower was built on the site of a Roman bastion. Known as the Wardrobe Tower, it con nected to the south-eastern corner of the White Tower via a walled walkway. The enclosure may have been used as kitchens or service areas.
Late 1 Sth-ccmury miniature manuscript illustration shotting Charles, Duke of Orleans imprisoned in the Wliile Tozvcr. By permission of ihc British Library. Royal MS 16F, ii, P 3
In about 1238 Henry III began a towered curtain wall on the east and north sides of the Tower. His son, Edward I, rebuilt the western section and added an outer ring so that by about 1285 the casde had reached its present extent. Henry had the exterior of the White Tower white washed - hence its name - and downpipes extended to protect the walls from rainwater running off the roof. In the 14th century a long rectangular two-storey building with internal courtyard was erected along the eastern side of the White Tower, possibly to hold the royal wardrobe. The original casde enclosure to the south of the White Tower became a private ward flanked by the buildings of the royal palace which took the place of the state rooms in the White Tower. However, the White Tower was still sometimes used for meetings of the king's council and even as a royal refuge in times of trouble, such as for Richard II during the Peasants' Artist's impression of theforebuiUing (top) and eastern courtyard in the 12th century.
Revolt. Occasionally important prisoners were lodged there.
Artist's impression of the Totver in about 1300 during the reign ofEdward 1. The Xorman White Tbzcer still dominates the castle.
Early 15th-century ceremonial bearing stvord thought to have been one of those carried in processions before Henry I\ 'or his son Henry \'The hill is English, the blade German. ix.i02s
■I
TOWER OF LONDON | cyogpsb
(Tudor$'&"fituatti >n 1490 the pitched roofs of the White Tower were dismanded and a new top floor inserted at the level of the gutters, with slightly pitched new roofs. Ills'- new floor lacked fireplaces and therefore was probably not used rcsidentially, but for storage. 'ITie Tower was now used less and less as a palace, and increasingly space was taken up by the royal arsenal, mint and record office. In 1565-6 an armoury was
Artist's impression of the upper eastern chamber in 1490.
set up in much of the White Tower. During the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) the chapel of St John was fitted with cupboards to hold official documents. In 1603-5 the flooring on the top level was renewed for its new role as a powder magazine. The eastern room on the first floor was similarly employed, a door being created in the north wall in 1636 to allow powder barrels to be lifted in. In the 1660s there was an attempt to create a grand "powder house" in the White Tower but only in 1667 did it approach the 10,000 barrels envisaged. A supply route from the Wharf was constructed but abandoned in 1670 and the amount of powder stored gradually declined, although Londoners remained fearful of an explosion. Indeed, in 1691 the top floor collapsed, sending 2.000 barrels crashing to the floor below. By the end of the 17th century much of die White Tower had become a small arms store. In 1669 new weather vanes with gilded details were added to the corner turrets of the White Tower; they survive except for the Artist's impression of the chapel in about 1700.
counter-balances, changed to arrows in the late 18th century.
eyagi seven | TOWER OF LONDON
C
lf)e-' iSffrQnturj, uch of the entrance and first floors of the White Tower remained a store for small arms throughout the 18th century. To give more light in the stores, work began in 1715 to enlarge considerably the windows on the entrance and uppermost floors. Those on the eastern entrance floor retain the wooden frames, hinges and fittings installed at this time. To improve access, two new entrance-floor doorways, which still have their oakpanelled doors and iron hinges, were
T/te east/ace oftlte Wliiu Totcer, s/iouing the zoindotes enlarged in the 18th century.
formed on the north side, with two more at first-floor level. Also in 1715 the basement was fitted out for the storage of saltpetre. From 1729 until 1 "34 much was done to improve the storage of this dangerous substance, notably by replacing the old timber ceilings with brick vaults in 1730. By the early 18th century there were only about 600 barrels of gunpowder left, stored in the sub-crypt. The windows at first-floor level were altered later in m fW TfWBH
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the century, to provide light to the eastern room which, like the adjacent chapel, was now being used by the Record Office. In 1736 the eastern room on the top floor, which had been used for storing swords, was also transferred to the Record Office, being followed early in the next century by the western room, which had been used to store match, rope, tools and other materials since the end of the 17th century. In 1715 a new lead cistern was installed on the roof, apparently holding 31.100 litres of water, for the supply of the whole Tower.
Section through the White Tower showing the design for a povider magazine 1752. 1.25
T h e Great Court of the Tower by T Motion, 1799. showing the 14rh-century annex of the east side of the
White lower. 1.96
TOWER OF LONDON cpatetafn
ntfe-* Office cpjJ/£rmoury he Royal Armour Gallery contains the best collection of royal armours in Britain. Kings enjoyed fine armour, which they sometimes presented as gifts or received in turn from fellow monarchs. By 1430 the Office of the King's Armoury in the Tower had been formed and was responsible for the production and care of such armours. Two armours of Henry VIII are displayed, together with surviving pieces from lost armours known from the inventory taken after his death in 1547.
Tlie Royal Armour Gallery with tlie silvered and engraved armour and Brandon lance in lite foreground.
Also shown in this gallery are weapons of Henry's guards, as well as a huge hollow wooden tilting lance traditionally associated with the King's brother-in-law, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Armours commissioned by courtiers of Elizabeth I include that for the Earl of Worcester. Several decorated armours belonging to Stuart kings and young princes may also be seen.
•""£-< Tun SILVERED ASD EXGRA\~ED ARMOUR
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The earliest Greenwich armour to survive, indeed the earliest complete armour certainly made in England to survive anywhere, is the silvered and engraved armour of about 1515, the decoration of which commemorates Henry's marriage to {Catherine ofAragon. The surface is covered with badges of the houses ofAragon and Tudor, together with scenes from the lives of St George and St Barbara. Decorated by Paul van Vrelant, the King's harness gilder, it was probably IV .• v
^p^i#
made for wear in parades during the Greenwich tournament in 1516. The s/iape of the armour indicates the 24-year old King's tall, athletic build. 11.5
cjagnmt,
^rmour^^rscna(a^!f(enr^vill eeking to match the great European monarchs of his day, Henry VIII set up the royal armour work
&
shop at Greenwich Palace in 1511. He first staffed it with Italians, then set up an independent group of Flemings. However, in 1515, perhaps spurred on by the gift the previous year of a magnificent armour from Emperor Maximilian I of Germany. Henry brought in a third group of workmen, this time from Flanders and Germany, from which the workshop took its name, the Almain armourv.
*"£-. THE 1540 ARMOUR •-%"' Tlie armour made for Henry I 'III at Greenwich in 1540 under the Master, Erasmus Kyrkenar, demonstrates the King's increasing bulk, though poor health may mean that he never wore it. Probably made for the May Day tournament that year, it originally formed part of a garniture of interchangeable pieces that could be adapted to different uses in the tournament or in tear. It is here shown made up for foot combat in the tournament. It could also be made up for the tilt la mounted contest betzceen two opponents over a barrier with lances) or for the tourney (the mounted team event). A stomach plate formed part of a corset worn under the armour as a stomach restraint, over which the cuirass was bolted, a.
Above left: The lilting lance supposed to be thai of Charles Brandon, Henry I 'Ill's brother-in-law, because of its huge size, vii.550 Left:,-I laic 16th-century painting of Henry 1 'III after the style of Holbein, deri: from the Whitehall Palace Privy Chamber tadU painting of 1537. 1.51
T O W E R OF LONDON
TOWER OF LONDON
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ffimourSStfjfirsenafpftfjmi^Viii s well as setting up the Greenwich workshop for producing fine armours, Henry set about modernising the equipment of his troops. Arms and armour that had been stored in the Tower were replaced by material brought in from the main centres of production abroad, including munition, or ordinary military, armours from Flanders for mounted lancers, with shaffrons to protect the horses" heads. A number of weapons bear Tudor badges and may have been used by Henry's guards or even by the King himself. After Henry died the royal workshops continued under his son, Edward VI (1547-53). One unusual armour made at this time, which may have belonged to the boy king, is of a type called an anime, in which the cuirass is formed from horizontal strips rather than large plates. His sisters, Queen Mary I (1553-8) and Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), had no need of personal armours and so the workshop concentrated on producing them for members of the court instead. Some discarded armours were given a new lease of life, as artist's studio props, on the stage or in the Lord Mayor's procession. One Green wich armour of about 1560, once thought to have belonged to Lord North, was worn by Lewis Dymoke, hereditary King's Champion, when he rode into Westminster Hall at the coronation banquet of George I in 1714 to challenge anyone who disputed the King's right to rule.
Left: staff weapons of Henry VIIVs guard, brought in from northern Italy: a partisan on the left and spear in the centre. Many of these weapons have their heads decorated Kith pointille work. On the right is a combination weapon, a spiked mace zcilh thru gun barrels in the head. The gun shield ;: tu probably imported Jrom Italy. It combines a shield with a breech-loading gun and, though probably experimental, examples have also been discovered on Henry's flagship, Mary Rose, which sank in 1545. vn.147. vn.4, XIV.I, v.79
A triple-barrelled bronze camion cast in about 1535 by Peter Baude, one of the foreign gunjounders brought over by Henry VIII. Unfortunately it teas badly damaged in the Grand Storehouse fire of 1841. xix.17
Right: one of two very early examples of a breechloading handgun made for Henry VIII, probably in England. Dated 1537, it bears a maker's mark irw, perhaps forW'illiam Hum. Keeper of the King's Handguns and Demi-hanks. The original aheellock is note missing, M M
iTPigfdtvai TOWER OF LONDON
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DECORATED SHAFFROX
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This highly decorated shaffron to protect a horse's head forms pan of a lost armour of Henry VIII. Made at Greenwich in about 1540 it is decorated with etched decoration in alternating bands of gill and bright steel, vi.55 n ^
EARL OF WORCESTER ARMOUR
«~ 3 P
The small garniture of William Somerset, third Earl of Worcester, made at Greenwich in about 1570 under the Master, John Kelte. Tliis is an armour for battle, there being no pieces to make up the armour for tournament use. The design album attributed to Jacobe Haider, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, illustrates several surviving armours and reveals that the finished product did not always match exactly the original design. It also shows how colours have been lost through over-enthusiastic cleaning before the 19th century; on Worcester's armour, the russet colouring of the surface has been lost, leaving only the gilding. 11.83
TOWER OF LONDON j cpay twelve
he quality of the collection of Stuart royal armours is un matched and demonstrates that some craftsmen were still producing exceptional work at a time when armour was gradually disappearing from the battlefield. By the early 17th century the royal workshops at Green wich were making fewer armours for members of the royal family or court. Unlike Henry VIII or Elizabeth I, the Stuart kings. James I and Charles I, were not interested in military display. As court culture changed, so the masque and carousel replaced the tournament. The nobility was now less militaristic; England was rarely at war in the early Stuart
Portrait of Charles I, when Prince o/\\'alcs. in an armour from the royal workshop ai Greenwich. Il was once thought that it depicted his brother Henry. Painting attributed to Paul van Soincr or Daniel My tens. 1.39
period and there were no major campaigns. The royal workshop was under-funded and badly managed, and standards declined. In die early 17th century the Dutch emerged as the premier makers of fine armour in Europe, perhaps reflecting the patronage of the house of Orange.
*"#-»
GILT ARMOUR OF CHARLES I >-3>~>
Perhaps the most splendid of the Smart royal armours in tlte Royal Armouries collection is the gill armour of Charles I. This was a Dutch armour, made by the armourer of Maurice, Count of Nassau, for Henry, Prince of Wales. Unfortunately, by the time it had reached England in 1614, Henry had died, and il passed to his brother, Charles, who would become king in 1625. The armour is covered in incised and punched decoration ofscrolling flowers and foliage and the whole surface is gilded. However, white it is unusual to cover an armour entirely in gold, what makes this example doubly unusual is the fact that gold leaf has been used. Gold was usually applied by the dangerous process of mercury gilding: an amalgam of gold and mercury was spread over lite steel and the mercury zcas then driven off by healing, leaving the gold fused to the surface. Unlike his brother, Henry, Charles was not very
cjip thirtctn TOVPF.R OF LONDON
interested in military matters and both were physically quite small: the armour stands only 5 feet &/': incites 11.68 mi tall. By the time the first CivilK'ar broke out in 1642, full armour was hardly used on the battlefield, though commanders might wear it for appearance. as did Charles himself. However, it seems that the gold armour had remained at Greenwich Palace, which came under Parliament's control at the beginning of the
Civil\X'ar,and
BUS brought to the Tbtoer in 1650 after being sold in 1649. It was provided with decorated saddle steels and a shaffron (shown left) for the Prince's horse. 11.91. vi.6o
«"«*-«
ARMOUR FOR PRINCE
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HRNSV & JAMBS u Several oj the Stuart armours in the Royal
Armouries
collection were designed for the princes when they were boys or teenagers. The earliest is thai given to Henry, Prince of Wales by Sir Francis Vere in 1609, when the young prince was IS years old. The son of James I, Henry was the elder brother of the future Charles I and would have been king in his stead if he had not died in 1612. The armour was a filling present for Henry, who liad a keen interest in military
mailers
and enjoyed sports. The surfaces are decorated with etched and g Hi medallions set with figures depicting the deeds of the great military leader. Alexander the Great, Tlie latest royal armour to survive in the Royal Armouries collection is that made for James II by Richard Holden of London in 1688. It arrived 'in his Majesty's Closeit'at 10 January
die Tower on
1686/7. It is an armour for
an harquebusier, comprising breast- and backplates, helmet and elbow gauntlet to protect the hand holding the reins. However, the royal cipher appears on breast and back, while the triple-bar face-guard is replaced by one pierced with the royal arms. The armour, which cost £100, was 'white pareell gilt
cliasedand
lyned with Crimson Satin'; the breastplate was carbine proof, the backplaie and helmet pistol proof. [1.88,11.123
TOWER OF LONDON | cyage fourteen
ffimours'ajffto^tuart dtyigf &? (^rincd
Charles II when Prince ofXhles, painted around 1642-4 by ihe English artisi.VC'illiam Dobson. C Her Majesty the Queen The Royal Collection
•""£-« ARMOUR OF CHARLES I
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Tku Dutch armour is thought to have been made for the future Charles I, probably to commemorate his investiture as Prince of Wales in 1612, when he would have been 12 years old. It is decorated with gilt bands of scrolling foliage and is supplied with a number of additional pieces made to match, some of which could be used to convert the armour to one which the prince could wear as an officer of infantry. A shaffronfor his pony's liead is also included. The armour is depicted in a portrait painted around 1642—4 by the English artist, William Dobson, worn not by Charles but by his son, the future Charles II, when he himself was Prince of Wales. 11.90. vi.59
cyapfifteen| TOWER OF LONDON
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~£-» HARQUEBUSIER ARMOUR « - 3 p
As the demand for court armours fell off, the Greenwich workshop was ordered to turn instead to the manufacture of ordinary military. or munition, armour. There are earlier examples of fine-quality pikemen's armours for officers, and it was probably the Greenwich workshops which, in about 163S, produced a miniature Itarquebusier, or light horseman's, armour for Prince Charles (later Charles II) wlio was then aboutfiveyears old. However, traces of designs inside the breastplate suggest that it was re-used from an unfinished armour of about 1610 intended for Prince Henry. The silvering now visible was originally gilt, and the armour is decorated with trophies of arms. 11.92
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ARMOUR OF THE GREAT MOGUL
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One of the least martial of kings, James I, commissioned no personal armours. However, wlien ships of the East India Company reached Japan, the governor of Edo (later Tokyo), Tokugawa Hidetada, son of the Shogun Ieyasu, presented the King with two Japanese armours made in about 1610, which were brought back to England in 1613. One of these is displayed at the Tower, where it has been on show since at least 1660, when it was known as the 'armour of tlie Great Mogul', XXVLAI
TOWER OF LONDON | cpagc sixteen
<$£> <£oar£ cpf Ordnance* ^^^*^ne L^
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Office of Ordnance emerged from the Privy Wardrobe at the Tower soon after 1400. and was
m
responsible for the provision of bows,
J
crossbows, cannon and handguns. Under Henry VIII (1509-47) it expanded rapidly and further areas of the Tower were given over to the storage of military equipment. Under the mastership of Sir Christopher Morris (1536-43) several posts were created: Lieutenant, Clerk of the Deliveries, Sur
How to besiege a fortified town. Cannon, handguns and crossbows, from a mid 15thcentury German firework book. 1.34
veyor and Storekeeper. In 1597, the officers and Master were formally constituted as a Board, and in the early 17th century the title of "Master' was changed to 'Master-General'. After the restoration of Charles II in 1660 the Ordnance underwent another period of rapid growth, reflected in the completion in 1664 of the 'small Gun Office Roome', the present New Armouries building on the east side of the Tower, which is probably the oldest surviving Ordnance building in England. In 1667 the building and
Above: Tlie coal of arms of lite Master-General of the Ordnance, carved in 1707 bylV'illiui/i Wlulc and carried on lite stern of his barge. At this date John. 1st Duke of Marlborough, Iteld lite office, xvu.24 Right: Artist's impression of the Master-General's barge approaching the Tower in about 1770.
ejecond floor
I '.c.T of the
■jllerv.
maintenance of fortifications throughout the British Isles became largely the responsibility of this Office, as did the manufacture, storage and distribution of armour, which passed to the Ordnance from the defunct Office of Armoury four years later. In 1685 the Office also took over the duties of the Office of Tents and Toils and so became responsible for storing and distributing tents, wagons and related utensils. Throughout this period the Tower remained the central arsenal of the nation. In 1688 the Master-General, George Legge, Lord Dartmouth, gave instructions for a new storehouse to replace the sheds along the north side of the Tower. The Grand Storehouse, almost 110 metres long was the most impressive structure the Ordnance would build at the Tower. Other buildings, now gone, were erected or expanded in the 18th century. By 1700, however, Britain was emerging as a major imperial power and other depots were being developed, notably at Woolwich. The Tower therefore took on a more specialised role in the Ordnance storage and supply system. The Board was keen to obtain control over the contractors of small arms and began providing specifications. Ordnance engineers had already made scaled models and measured drawings for gunfounders and carriage makers. In order to help regulate manufacture, a Small Gun Office and a Modelling Room were set up in 1716 on the ground floor of the medieval annex on the east side of the White Tower, from which patterns for standard weapons began to be provided. The Board's responsibility for fortifications and barracks also led in 1716 to the creation of a Record Office and Drawing Room on the first floor of the medieval annex. It later made a major contribution to the training of cartographers and surveyors. Some staff worked on the Trigonometrical Survey of Great Britain. begun in 1791, from which arose the Ordnance Survey. The Board had risen to the challenge of the Napoleonic Wars but, after the long period of peace which followed, performed badly at the beginning of the Crimean War, and in 1855 was swept away as part of a total rationalisation of military administration, its functions passing to the War Department.
TOWER OF LO.VDON , ^yage eighteen
^Weapons pjfffte Ordnance* r o m at least the 18th century all British weapons m a d e for the O r d n a n c e were divided u p into those for Land Service (infantry and cavalry) a n d those for Sea Service. As early as 1631 Charles I attempted to standardise patterns for weapons, based on O r d n a n c e samples. Sealed patterns, marked with a red wax seal a n d kept in the Tower, survive from the 18th century onwards. Infantry swords were largely discarded b u t patterns were provided for troopers' cavalry swords a n d weapons for specialist bodies. Officers still carried privately Below: Flintlock cavalry pistol, by Robert Murdon of London, mid 17th century, xil.5438 Below right: Flintlock cavalry pistol, by Willits, dated 1744. xii.831
purchased weapons that conformed to O r d n a n c e patterns. Until about 1710, during the War of the Spanish Succession ( 1 7 0 1 - 1 4 ) , the Board of O r d n a n c e h a d usually bought complete weapons from private contractors. T h e n it began to place separate contracts for the different stages of manufacture a n d assembly, so that it had greater control. Most g u n barrels and locks were m a d e in a n d around Birmingham. L o n d o n g u n makers, mostly in the Minories near the Tower, added the stocks and completed the weapons. T h e Tower was the central depot. T h e Ordnance provided the contractors with detailed specifications, including specimens or patterns, and inspected and proved (tested) their work at the Tower, where it was then stamped or engraved with the O r d n a n c e mark. D u r i n g the Napoleonic Wars ( 1 7 9 2 - 1 8 1 5 ) such was the d e m a n d for weapons for Britain a n d h e r allies that an organisation similar to the Tower's was set u p in Birmingham, for the complete manufacture a n d proving of weapons. In L o n d o n the O r d n a n c e itself took o n the production a n d assembly of c o m p o n e n t s , with a factory o n Tower Wharf as well as at Lewisham. After the war all these operations closed down, but the O r d n a n c e then set u p a new factory at Enfield Lock.
Right: The Battle of Waterloo decided by the Duke of Wellington. Illustration from Orme's Military and Naval Anecdotes, 1819. Far right: India Pattern flintlock muthtt of about 1805filledwith socket bayonet, xii.3507. x.90
cyagcninctan j TOWER OF LONDON
The Board constantly considered ideas for new or hammer
improved military weapons. But, perhaps surprisingly,
striker 'scent bottle'priming powder magazine
it was the sportsman, rather than the soldier or inventor, who largely inspired the innovations which were to transform military firearms by the mid 19th century. These included the percussion cap, a cylindrical copper cap containing explosive fulminate that was detonated by a hammer. The Rev. Alexander Forsyth experimented with fulminate in the Tower in 1806, but the man usuallycredited with the invention of the percussion cap is an English artist, Joshua Shaw. In 1839 the Board finally decided to convert weapons in store to Pattern 1839 percussion muskets for Regiments of the Line, but in 1841 a fire at the Tower destroyed vast quantities of flintlocks, which speeded up the introduction of the new percussion firearms. r
Other innovations included rifling the barrel (cutting a spiral groove inside to make a bullet spin for truer aim) and breech-loading. The Ordnance, however, was wary of change; a soldier in the heat of battle needed a firearm that was robust and reliable. It was not until 1867 that the breech-loading rifle,
~ip-' THE'SCEST-BOTTLE'LOCK
«-%">
This pistol is fined with the 'scent-bottle' lock developed by the Rev. Alexander Forsyth. When the bottle was turned, a portion of fulminating powder fell into a small recess on the spindle next to the touch-hole. This was then detonated by a striker when the trigger was pulled. Below are two experimental locks made by Forsyth. xvi.31,51D, 51E
in the form of the Snider, became standard issue, twelve years after the functions of the Board of Ordnance were taken over by the War Department.
Percussion carbine issued to the Royal Corps of Sappers and Miners, derived from the standard Enfield rifle of 1853. The lockplate is stamped with the royal cipher VR, the Tower mark and the crowned broad arrow, xii.326
Far left: An example of the Pattern 1796 Light Cavalry officer's sword, dated 1798. Mode in Birmingham, by a major government contractor. Tlxomas Gill, ix.835 Left An example of the Pattern 1796 Heavy Cavalry trooper's sword, made in Birmingham about 1800. In contrast to the
with a 'hatchet'point which proved ineffective for cutting or thrusting. However, it remained the standard sword for heavy cavalry until replaced by new patterns of swords for all cavalry in 1821. [X.2710
TOWER OF LONDON \cyagilvattj
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Tfie-' (Temporary £x()i6itiotbGa([er£ his. the smaller of the two rooms on the top floor, is now the area designated for temporary exhibitions. These have included
displays of pictures and historic photographs from the collections, and also The Royal Menagerie ai the Tower of Ixmdon, a history of the collection of animals kept at the Tower until the 19th century. The room itself is of especial interest because the cast wall preserves the best example of the soot stain that marks the line of the original steeplypitched gable roof, replaced in the late 15th century due to the insertion of the new top floor.
C
Tht Jimporary Inhibition Gallery, seiih Oie original roo) StU -,-i'ihlc I'II tin south taatt.
lfiej ^randStorehouse &d,^ma(f%rmourj, he Grand Storehouse on the north side of the Tower contained the largest public displays created at the Tower: the Small Armoury and the Artillery Train. It was itself an impressive piece of architecture. 110 metres long, 18 metres wide, with two storeys and an attic. It may have been the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688 that prompted the use of the building not simply as a store but as a propaganda display of Britain's military might, on behalf of the new king, William III. In January 1696, work began tofitout the first floor as 'an Armoury for small Guns', under the direction of a gun smith. John Harris of Eton, who had fashioned designs from old weapons to decorate the walls of the guard chambers at Hampton Court, Windsor Castle and St James's Palace. The Ordnance master carpenter, Henry Haywood and the master carver, Nicholas Allcock, also worked on the designs. Ascending a staircase at the western end of the building,
Model til tin (ininJ
Storehouse.
the visitor passed through a screen to a fantastic sight.
■"■•'
I'lie Thmporary Exhibition (ulllery
The Small
, jag maty-out TOWER OF LONDON
The north and south walls each had eight pilasters of pikes with capitals of pistols set in the Corinthian order. Between them were displays including moons and fans of bayonets and pistols arranged around a target of bayonet blades, and another set in carved scallop shells decorated with 'ornaments of pearls and Currell with drops of Shells at the Ends'. The 'Waves of the Sea' were reproduced in bayonets and brass blunderbusses, with capitals of pistols over them. The rising sun was radiant with rays of pistols; a pair of folding ceremonial gates stood under an arch made of halberds and cavalry carbines and a battery of guns in swords and pistols. The "Back Bones of a Whale' were made of carbines. The carved head of Medusa, 'commonly called the Witch of Endor', complete with snakes, was set within three ellipses of pistols. Allcock also provided Jupiter riding 'a fiery Chariot drawn by Eagles, as if in the Clouds, holding a Thunder bolt in his left Hand, and over his Head a Rainbow". At the western end, Harris created two pyramids of pistols with carved wooden heads, arranged on eight circular ornaments on wooden pedestals. Down the centre of the room were large gun racks
The Small Armoury.
interspersed with eight square and eight circular columns of pikes and pistols. All this was arranged around 16 chests, said to contain 1,200 muskets each. In die centre of the room, near the entrance from the Grand Staircase, stood four columns decorated with spirals of 900 pistols and carved Corinthian capitals. Between the columns a large pendant in the shape of a falling star hung from the ceiling. At the eastern end stood a great organ ten ranges high, with brass blunderbusses for the large pipes and around 2,000 pairs of pistols for the smaller. It was flanked by a 'fiery serpent" whose body was made from pistols, and by a seven-headed hydra, whose carved heads and wings were joined by pistols. Completing the displays at this end were two armours wrongly attributed to Henry V and Henry VI. \'ed Ward, writing of the Small Armoury in The Ijindon Spy (16981703), described it as 'the most renowned armoury in Christendom'.
A recreation of one of several giw racks installed in the Small Armoury uncords ilic end of the iSth century. Each could hold 1.1 74 muskets with their bayonets.
TOWER OF LONDON | o>a$e twenty-two
nffip^jprnisfj^mourY / % 4^ J
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t
he first reference to the 'Spanish
L«
I
Weapons'appears in 1676, these
^ " ^ being a collection of objects said to have been captured from the Spanish Armada of 1588. In fact none of the objects had any provable connection with the Armada at all, although they were displayed as such until the 19th century. At first the Spanish Armoury was housed in the old buildings on the north side of the Tower but in 1688, in order to make way
Weapons from the Spanish Armoury, from History and Description of the City of London by R Skinner, 179S.
for the Grand Storehouse, it was moved to the upper floor of a storehouse erected
The Spanish Armoury,
in 1670-1, to the west of the White Tower. A number of the objects thought to be from the Armada had probably come from the arsenal of Henry VIII, and the combined gun and mace was referred to as 'King Henry VIII's Walking Staff. Further exhibits were added over the years, some of which were shown as trophies of other victories. Several of these may be authentic, such as the hafted scythe blades said to come from the battle of Sedgemoor during the Monmouth rebellion of 1685, or items associated with the Jacobite rising of 1745. Others, such as a 'Dane's Club' used by Viking invaders in 1002, were wildly inaccurate. A number of instruments of torture and punishment became part of the Spanish Armoury. As with other exhibits, most were said to have come from the Armada, for use by the Spanish Inquisition on their Protestant English captives.
Right: This long maa isfittedwith three groups of iron spikes and the head contains three short mm gun barrels. These barrels would ha: fired by means of a liartd-held nnitcheord. It was referred to OS 'King I VIU'sK'alking Staff in I 'th-ecmury ones, av.i
qmgc twenty-time | T O W E R OF LONDON
Again, these attributions are unlikely. The Scavenger's Daughter, also known as Skeffington's gyves, was said to have been K
devised by Leonard Skeffington, Yeoman of the Ordnance, during the reign of Henry VD3, while the surviving thumbscrews are probably 17th century in date and there is no reason to think they are not English. Bilboes and shackles were simple
Queen Elizabeth's Armoury from Charles Knight's Tower of London, 1842.
restraining devices that could be seen in many English prisons. The so-called 'Spanish Coller Carved wooden head of Elizabeth I, from the tableau in the Spanish Armoury, later Queen Elizabeth's Armoury, xvil.63
for torture taken in '88', which was in fact recorded at the Tower at the end of
Henry VLTTs reign, was never displayed in the Spanish Armoury but was in the same room as the Line of Kings. The rack was not considered to be part of the Armada trophies, and was kept in the Grand Storehouse in the 18th century. In 1779, when Britain was again threatened with invasion, a patriotic tableau of Queen Elizabeth I reviewing her troops at Tilbury was created, including a life-sized mounted figure of the Queen. By 1827 improved scholarship had led to the realisation that none of the display had anything to do with the Spanish Armada, and it was reorganised, being renamed Queen Elizabeth's Armoury in 1831. From 1837 until 1879 the exhibition was housed in the crypt of the Chapel of St John, which was provided with false Romanesque arches to add to its attraction. The instruments of torture and punishment were now recognised as part of the Tower's history, the execution block being added to the display in 1839. Interest was fuelled by the publication of Harrison Ainsworth's historical romance, The Tower of London, in 1840. The present exhibition is also housed in the crypt.
The execution of Lady Jane Grey. Detail of an illustration by George Cruikshank.for Harrison Ainsteorth 's T h e Tower of London, 1840.
The block is made from the trunk of an oak and weighs 56.75kg. The axe, from the Tomer stores, could date from the 16th century, xv.i, xv.3
TOWER OF LONDON | cpngc twtity-four
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fli 1 ^^s
he L.ine of Kings is first recorded at the Tower in October 1660, perhaps having been set up earlier in the year to celebrate the Restoration of Charles II
after the period of Cromwell's rule, when England had no monarch. It came from Greenwich Palace, and evidently included some or all of the eight figures listed in the 1547 inventory of Henry VLTTs possessions. The original line of ten figures was enlarged in 1688 when it was moved from the old ordnance stores on the north side of the Tower, at the western end close to the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. The Line was now relocated to a permanent home on the first floor of the New Armouries building. Seventeen new wooden horses and heads were produced, some carved by the leading craftsmen of the day, such as John Nost. More were added in 1702 and 1749, the last being introduced in 1768.
Above right: Carved zcooden head of Henry I 'III. xvi I. i Below: The Line of Kings display.
The line then consisted of the following kings: William I, Edward I, Edward III, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV, Edward V, Henry VII, Henry Vm, Edward VI, James I, Charles I, Charles II, William III, George I and George II. Only Henry VIII and Charles I actually wore their personal armour. Others were shown in totally incorrect armour: Henry VII wore the silvered and engraved armour of Henry VLU, while an armour probably made for Charles I when Prince of Wales was thought to be that of the boy king Edward V William the Conqueror was dressed in a Greenwich armour of about 1590 and provided with a matchlock musket, which can now be seen in an adjoining case, together with other relics of the Line, such as the so-called breastplate and sword of Will Somers, Henry Mil's jester. Behind, massed displays of munition armour, largely of 17th-century date, provided a suitably martial setting.
T H E LINE OF KINGS
('luiiL'- I, h\ (itinling Gibbons, XVII.2
Qofftwatf-jm
The Horse Armoury in the Tower of London by Rowlandson, about 1800, showing the Line of Kings, 1.327
A sketch made around 1800 by Thomas Rowlandson shows an arniour for a 'giant' standing near the Line of Kings. This, a north German armour of about 1535, was attributed to John of Gaunt, son of the 14th-century monarch, Edward El. A tiny armour, probably a trial piece of about 1630, was said to be that of Richard, Duke ofYork, one of the princes rumoured to have been murdered in the Tower. In 1825 the New Horse Armoury was built on the south side of the White Tower to house the Line of Kings, which was reorganised by the antiquarian, Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick, who tried to correct some of the worst historical inaccuracies. A critic writing in the Builder in July 1851, commented that the designer of the New Horse Armoury 'deserved to be beheaded'. It was finally demolished in 1883, the figures being absorbed into the museum displays.
Above: Demolition of the Hone Armoury in 1883. Right: This giant German armour 0) about 1535 was once attributed to John of Gaunt; il is 2.057 m tall. The tiny armour is only 0.952 m tall, and was possibly a trial piece for a lost armour of Charles T. it was displayed as the armour of Jeffrey Hudson. Queen Henrietta Maria's dwarf. 11.22.126
I TOWER OF LONDON
qpag! twenty-six
tlffcjfirtitfer^
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Rwni> &? & destruction, nfflje Cjmnc(cStorebousej
he Grand Storehouse, built between 1688-92, was intended to house, on the ground floor, the cannon of the royal artillery train used by the armed forces in the field. As time went by, these guns became the centrepiece of a display of British military power. The artillery train was shown together frith many historic items, such as the triple-barrelled gun of Henry VIII, and trophies captured in military campaigns all over the world. The guns were set down either side of the room, and the walls were lined with the paraphernalia used to serve the guns, such as ramrods, sponges and powder ladles. The great artillery drums were set on a gilded carriage and trophies of arms were created, including both British and captured military drums; flags and banners were hung over the guns. Under the ceiling,
The Artillery Room
numerous horse harnesses and other items hung from poles, while twenty supporting pillars were adorned with military items. Later guidebooks also mention relics of naval triumphs, including the wheel from Nelson's flagship, Victory, badlydamaged at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. As well as these martial displays there were curiosities such as a wooden diving bell used by Sicilian coral hunters. The same room also contained perhaps that most infamous instrument of torture, the rack, which was first mentioned in the Grand Storehouse in 1708. It had last been ordered to be ready for use in June 1673 but had evidently been de commissioned by June 1675, when it was listed in an inventory of Ordnance stores.
I .eft: Ladle, sponge and rammer JOT serving guns, added to ihe mills after 1718. From Archiley Kricgskunsi. byJohann Jacobi von Wiilhauseit, 1617. Right: Tlu Artillery Room showing three French mortars of the 17th and 18th centuries, with IStlt-eentii'v British swivel guns behind. Lefl XIX.132, middle: XIX.134. right xix.133
cyage twenty-seven | TOWER OF LONDON
Tlie destruction of the Grand Storetiouse as portrayed in this View of the Awful Conflagration at the Tower of London October 31 1841. 1.476
The demise of the Grand Storehouse came suddenly. On the night of 30 October 1841, a fire began from an over heated stove in the Bowyer Tower nearby. Sparks fell on to the roof of the Grand Storehouse and soon the whole building was ablaze. Thousands gathered on Tower Hill to gaze at the massive conflagration that could not be contained by the Tower's nine fire engines and those that came to assist. Troops set about removing the gunpowder still stored in the White Tower and the Crown Jewels were removed from the Martin Tower. The fire was not brought under control until about 5.00 a.m. the following morning, by which time the Grand Storehouse was a smoking shell and vast quantities of
:= —**• -*■-- -»'
weapons, together with many historic pieces, had been destroyed. Fortunately, the artillery train had been moved to Woolwich in 1818 but many historic guns had remained. A contemporary engraving shows the huge Namur mortar, weighing 3,380 kg., standing defiantly among the ruins, though its wooden bed had been destroyed. Such was the ferocity of the blaze that many metal weapon parts had been twisted and fused together into bizarre shapes. In the weeks following the fire, tables were set up in the roofless building and pieces sold off to members of the public at prices up to £1 each.
Candle slick, one of many examples of pieces of bizarre metal debris sold off to members of the public in the zeeeks following the fire, xvm.356
After the 1841 fire. View of the Ruins of the Grand Storehouse in the Tower of London. Detail from a lithograph b\ Francis Ireland after a drawing by Edtoard Falkener. 1.358
TOWER OF LONDON ijag twenty-eight
C
lfie-' (Victor iani&g {fie (Tower" y the end of the 19th century the Tower had become first and foremost a popular visitor attraction. In 1837 there were about 11,000 visitors; in 1901,402,000. As it ceased to be a working arsenal and the military stores were gradually removed, Ordnance storehouses and offices were demolished as part of a re-medievalisation of the Tower. At the same time, beginning in the 1850s under the supervision of the architect Anthony Salvin, the Office of Works began to restore or rebuild the old castle. In the process, and especially under Salvin's successor, John Taylor, genuinely medieval building was swept away and
Above right: From cover of a souvenh
guidebook 10 i he Tbtotr of London, 1882. Below: Holiday time ai the Tower. A satirical cartoon of 1871 shenvs the block and axe in Queen Elizabeth's Armoury 111 the crypt. Disraeli is about to place his head on the block, while John Hull looks on.
inaccurate pastiche put up in its place. The greatest loss was the 14th-century annex to the east of the White Tower, which had been occupied by the Board of Ordnance. However, the Tower remained a garrisoned fortress and, pre-dating Salvin's appointment and the establishment of controls over new building in the Tower, an immense neo-Gothic structure was built on the site of the Grand Store^^___^^____^_^^^_
house, as a barracks for up to a thousand men. At the beginning ofVictoria's reign, the White Tower was still used largely as a store.
^ . ;;
Since 1811 the Record Office had controlled the uppermost floor, and the Chapel and eastern room on the first floor. In 1834 a new entrance was cut through the south-west corner of the basement, being linked to the wharf by a tram way. From the mid 19th century the top floor briefly became part of the working arsenal until it was transferred to the Tower Armouries for displaying their collections in 1883. The entrance and first floors remained as small arms stores until this time, when the first floor passed to the Armouries. As late as 1914, however, 41,000 rifles
Abasement
Hi, I tctorian Gall I 9lli-cenmry models of the JhtDer displayed in the
rypu
, TJiy twenty-nine | TOWER OF LONDON
View of the Tower from Totcer Bridge, 1898.
were still housed on the entrance floor until moved to Brass Mount in that year, when this floor too was handed over for displays. The basement area followed two years later. A developing interest in the study of military history and arms and armour was reflected in increasingly accurate attributions to many of the objects. The new galleries incorporated objects from the Line of Kings and the Spanish Armoury, as well as survivors from the Grand Storehouse fire. The Spanish Armoury was broken up, the instruments of torture now being shown as a group. The Line of Kings was dismantled but many of the horses were reused to carryarmours in the new displays. However, as well as developing chronological displays of historic arms and armour, the Armouries maintained the tradition of decorative mass displays of service weapons. Fans and patterns made from weapons decorated walls and ceilings. It was not until World War I that the historic collection was displayed throughout the whole of the White Tower. A national museum had been born.
v.1.-,' vitas o] the displays ofarms and •irmotir, about 1870. Tile illtistratum i far Icit ihoKt the collection of modern arms on the top floor eftlu White Ibtoer, the illustration on the left shorn the silvered and engraved armour oj Henry] 'III as ii arranged m Ike Horse Armoury by 7 R Planchi in 1869. I Irnnl Kickens
TOWER OF LONDON | g>'g"l'
