Collection: Royal Armouries

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The Museum originated in the Tower of London, and today operates across three main sites: its headquarters in Leeds, its historic home in the Tower of London and its artillery museum at Fort Nelson in Portsmouth.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: Not known

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The Museum’s collection consists of examples of arms, armour and artillery dating from antiquity to the present day. The collection covers the development of arms and armour for military, sporting, presentation and other purposes. Geographically they cover a huge area including Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.

  Notable collections include: important medieval holdings, royal armours of the Tudor and Stuart kings; arms and armour of the English Civil Wars; the armoury from Littlecote House; British and foreign military weapons from the Office of Ordnance and Ministry of Defence Pattern Room collections; and holdings of oriental arms and armour.

  The Royal Armouries also holds a number of special collections relating to the history of the Tower of London, including antique prints and drawings, paintings, early photographs, archives and rare books.

  In alphabetical order:

  Archery

  The collection of European and American archery equipment includes some highly important objects, such as longbows retrieved from the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s flagship, excavated in the 19^th century. There is a world-class group of crossbows ranging in date from the late 15^th to the 19^th century, including one example of a type associated with King James I, with an important group of cranequins, gaffles and other spanning mechanisms, quivers and quarrels. There is also an important holding of excavated medieval arrow and quarrel heads, mostly from the River Thames, and a significant collection of target archery equipment and accessories of the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Modern crossbows, bows and blowpipes are also represented.

  Archives & Special Collections (Library)

  The collection holds material relating to the development of arms and armour; the history of the Tower of London and its institutions including the Tower Armouries (before 1 April 1984); the Royal Armouries (after 1 April 1984); and other related subjects and organisations such as Royal Small Arms Enfield, chivalry and knighthood, warfare and military science.

  The scope, acquisition, disposal and use of the archives and special collections are detailed within the Archives Development Policy, Information and Records Management Policy, and the Archives Appraisal Policy.

  The special collections (library) includes early books on fencing and the art of warfare, including the 16th century works of the Italian fencing masters Camillo Agrippa and Achille Marozzo; military manuals and drill books, including: the works of Henry Hexham, used extensively during the English Civil Wars; General Wolfe’s Instructions to Young Officers; and the Standing Orders written by Robert Craufurd, commander of the Light Division during the Peninsular War; official handbooks and training manuals relating to small arms and artillery, issued by the War Office and the Admiralty; illustrated books on chivalry and knighthood, including: a 19th century facsimile of Der Weisskunig (The White King), with engravings by Hans Burgkmair; and a number of volumes relating to the Gothic revival, in particular a fine copy of The Eglinton Tournament 1839 illustrated by the artist James Henry Nixon.

  Armour

  The armour collection is important in that it is an historic royal armoury and also an arsenal. As such, considering the size, spread, quality and scope of the collection, it cannot be matched by any other world collection. One of the most highly-regarded sections are its collection of armour made in the royal workshops at Greenwich, founded by Henry VIII, and its Stuart royal armours of the early 17th century. It includes important groups of medieval armour, both mail and plate, of the 14^th and 15^th centuries. There are collections of Renaissance armour, particularly decorated armours of Germany and Italy. There are some of the finest etched, gilt and embossed armours of the world. The historic Tower arsenal collection contains royal munition armour of the 16th and 17th century, but also Parliamentarian armour: the Littlecote armoury. Its holdings of tournament armour, which include pieces with Hapsburg origins and from the English royal collection, are internationally significant. It also contains holdings of ancient and modern armour.

  Art

  The collection of fine, decorative and applied art ranges in date from medieval to contemporary and includes drawings, engravings, lithographs, woodblock and letterpress printing, oil paintings and watercolours. Most objects are of European origin, principally British, and are two-dimensional, although there are a few pieces of sculptural artwork.

  Artillery

  The artillery collection is of national and international significance in its scope, due to its technical interest, aesthetic quality and early origins. It relates to two of the Tower of London’s historic roles. Firstly, as an arsenal, the Tower was the major storehouse of artillery from the 14^th century. Experimental and obsolete pieces were retained as an official record. Secondly, as a showplace, the Tower was home to many guns taken by right of conquest or presented by friendly powers. The collection includes outstanding trophy guns and diplomatic gifts ranging in origin and date from the famous Turkish bronze bombard dated 1464 to the French guns captured following the battle of Waterloo.

  The artillery collection reflects technical developments in field, fortification, and naval artillery, although many of the relevant pieces also have specific military or political history attached to them, and/or are decorated artistic pieces. Notable early pieces include the mid-15^th century 13-inch`Boxted` Bombard and the historically significant 15^th century bombard `Mons Meg`.

  The collection is strong in muzzle-loading artillery of the 17^th to 19^th century, including much of the range of 16^th – 18^th century defined classes, from an ornate pair of Falcons associated with the Duke of Gloucester to a Cannon cast by Pedro Dias Bocarro in Chaul, 1594. It also covers the typical range of 18^th/19^th century field and naval artillery, but also significant individual pieces of the era such as the unusual Mallet`s mortar.

  The transition from smoothbore to rifled guns is also represented alongside the armament of Fort Nelson itself, a key piece being the exceptionally rare Armstrong 7-inch breech loader. The collection also includes numerous examples of the quick-firing guns of the late 19^th and the 20^th centuries. The most recent examples are of two tubes from the Iraqi ‘Supergun’ (Project Babylon) of the late 1980s. Anti-tank artillery from the 20^th century is selectively represented, including conventional weapons but also recoilless weapons, and an example of the most important 20^th and 21^st century form of artillery, namely the Self-Propelled Gun (a 1944 British Sexton with intact 25-pounder gun).

  The collection of ammunition and artillery accessories and supporting pieces is also wide-ranging, from individual projectiles associated with the aforementioned guns to a Green Archer fire control radar system.

  Edged Weapons

  The edged weapons collection is widely regarded as one of the greatest in the world. It ranges in date from the Bronze Age to the present and contains a number of unique or rare objects. There are a wide range of types of edged weapons, including swords and daggers, along with various examples of hafted and staff weapons, including large numbers of those of the guards of Henry VIII. With the addition of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Pattern Room items, the collection holds an enhanced collection that tells the story through Sealed Patterns of the British Army Regulation issue sword from the end of the 18^th century to the present day.

  The collection contains a comparatively comprehensive, selection of fine medieval pieces, including medieval daggers found in the Thames. The post-medieval section is stronger, with a wide range of edged weapons used in war, presentation, sport and hunting.

  The collection contains a number of unique pieces, ranging from what is regarded as the earliest known medieval child’s sword to swords associated with historical figures such as Cromwell, Napoleon, Collingwood and Wellington, as well as with various British monarchs.

  Firearms

  The firearms collection includes military, sporting, hunting and self-defence firearms, and light weapons, air weapons, bayonets, firearms accessories and ammunition. It is the largest and finest of its type anywhere in the world. It is truly global in theme and pan-period in date (c.1500 – Present), with particular strength in the area of British and Commonwealth military small arms. It has a strong emphasis on 20^th century due in part to ongoing ties to the Ministry of Defence and various UK police services. As a result it includes examples of modern military, commercial, and criminal use weapons not found in other museum collections. The contemporary collection in this, as other areas, has also reached out into the field of popular culture, with film and television props including `blasters` from the `Star Wars` films. It is also strong in experimental and trials weapons, both types that became significant in their own right, and technical `dead-ends` that are valuable in the study of arms.

  At the core of the collection is the ‘Old Tower Collection’ of service arms formerly kept at the Tower of London from its days as an issuing arsenal, resulting in the most comprehensive collection of 18th and early 19th century British military longarms anywhere. Alongside this were stored early trials weapons, foreign gifts, and the firearms elements of King Henry VIII’s personal armoury, notably two breechloading sporting guns and several matchlock gun-shields.

  This collection has been enriched by collecting activity along typological and art historical lines. A growing collection of continental wheellock firearms is particularly noteworthy, as is the large assemblage of highly decorated Russian firearms and accessories for Empress Elizabeth of Russia, known as the `Tula Garniture` and dated 1752. In more recent times collecting has focussed on objects with historical, personal, or local significance, including the large number of matchlock and flintlock arms from the armoury at Littlecote House.

  The collection was greatly bolstered by the donation in 2005 of the former Ministry of Defence Pattern Room collection, which excelled in material of the 19^th and 20th centuries, including both experimental/trials and issue types. Though strongest in typological and technical terms, it also includes various unique or otherwise significant objects such as the presentation Colt Navy revolvers gifted to Colt’s British supplier of steel, Mark Firth. The highlight of this combined collection is the Sealed Pattern collection of firearms dating from the 18^th century to the end of this system of standardisation c.1918. Once the reference standard for the production of Ordnance firearms (prior to the introduction of technical drawings), it is now an invaluable research tool. The collection also holds examples of weapons used in crime from the 19^th century to the present day. This allows the collection to illustrate the nature of the change in the use of weapons in crime.

  Supporting the core collection of arms are: bayonets, including Sealed Pattern and rare examples; firearms accessories including powder flasks, holsters, spanners, gauges, tools etc., and a unique collection of live small arms ammunition.

  Part of the terms of gift for the Pattern Room Collection from the Ministry of Defence which is detailed with an ongoing Service Level Agreement (see RA / MOD SLA) is that items from the Pattern Room (PR) collection are to be made available to SLA ‘users’ for training purposes, and that Royal Armouries remains current by expanding the collection in line with SLA purposes.

  Oriental

  The collection is unusual in having significant holdings from every part of Asia. Regarding the depth and range of coverage, and taking into account the many unique objects it includes, it ranks among the best in the world.

  Chronologically, the main strength of the collection lies between the 15^th and 19^th centuries, but some of the more remarkable objects are earlier including 14^th century Japanese sword blades, a helmet and a mace from the Yuan dynasty (13^th – 14^th century), an early curved sword from the Eurasian steppe dating to around the 9^th or 10^th centuries, and bronze helmets, the remains of a crossbow and a dagger axe blade with its surviving scabbard all dating from the 5^th – 3^rd centuries BC during the Warring States period in China. From western Asia there is an impressive group of medieval Turkish armour, and the only known surviving example of a 15^th century Mamluk handgun. From South Asia comes the famous elephant armour, the only near-complete mail and plate example contemporary to the Mughal era held in a museum collection in the world.

  There are also important groups of objects which entered the collection as major acquisitions of arms and armour sourced from across South Asia in different contexts, such as the East India Company gift presented by 1853, the Great Exhibition display items bought in 1852, the Codrington collection objects purchased in 1863 and the equipment transferred following the Indian disarmament enforced in 1859. From Central Asia there are top quality armours and weapons. Moving into East Asia, the Chinese collection includes some outstanding objects such as an extremely rare sword from the early Ming dynasty, which is celebrated as one of the best examples of decorative metalwork from this era still in existence. The Japanese collection is extremely important, especially in regard to armour. It includes one of the early 17th century Tokugawa presentation armours, and a very rare example of practical field armour from the 16^th century which was sent to Spain as a diplomatic gift.

  M-class

  This is a collection of non-accessioned objects which is maintained for the purpose of education, handling and display. The collection contains a wide range of material relating to the subject areas covered by the permanent collection. It includes both replica and original objects, including deactivated firearms.

  Tower History

  This collection contains a range of object types connected by their association with, or depiction of, the Tower of London. The collection includes: domestic ware with printed images of the Tower; objects associated with officials and official bodies (such as the Tower Hamlets Volunteers); pictures/accounts of prisoners or their possessions; and objects linked to significant on-site events, such as the Grand Storehouse Fire in1841.

  Historically, site finds from the Tower have also been accepted into the collection. Site finds are by their nature varied and include a ‘toy’ firearm from the 16/17^th century, a Viking stirrup and two mummified cats. Material relating to the History of the Tower of London is also contained in the Archive collection.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date:

  Licence: CC BY-NC