Authorised Guide to the Tower of London

by W. J. Loftie

The Armoury.

In connection with the Armouries, it should be noted that the present collection of arms and armour had its origin in that formed at Greenwich by King Henry VIII, who received many presents of this nature from the Emperor Maximilian and others. He also obtained from the Emperor several skilled armourers, who worked in his pay and wore his livery. English iron in former days was so inferior, or the art of working it was so little known, that even as far back as the days of Richard II German and Italian armourers were the chief workmen in Europe. It should be remembered that the earlier kind of armour chiefly consisted of quilted garments, further fortified by small pieces of leather, horn, or metal. So far from the invention of gunpowder having driven out armour, if we may credit the story of the earliest employment of that explosive, it was at a date when plate armour was hardly in use, certainly not in large pieces. What actually did cause the disuse of armour was the change in ideas as to the movement of troops and the large quantity of armour which was made in the sixteenth century, and consequently the inferior make. In England the disuse of armour seems to have begun earlier than on the Continent, but at no time were the ordinary soldiers covered with metal as seen in Armouries and other places. The weight, and what was more important, the cost, prevented such a thing. It was only the rich who could afford to pay for and had horses to carry armour, who wore much of what we see now. Again, armour for war was much lighter and less complete than that used for the tilt yard, where protection to the wearer was more considered than his ability to hurt his opponent. The greater substance of such armour and its frequent enrichment with engraving and gilding no doubt led to the preservation of this class of defence. Chain mail suffered extremely by rust and neglect, and even plate armour was subject to the same deterioration. It is consequently not to be wondered at that little or no armour of a date previous to the fifteenth century is to be seen in this collection. On Henry VIII's death the first inventory of the Royal collection was made, and this includes the armour and arms at Greenwich, and arms and artillery at the Tower of London which, from the time of Henry VIII, was one of the sights for foreigners of distinction. In the troubles of the Civil War the arms were drawn out, and there is no doubt much, both of arms and armour, was used and lost. The Protector took one suit, and it was not till 1660 that the armour, which had meanwhile been brought to London, was collected, and, with the weapons still in the store, were formed into a kind of museum. It is to that period that may be traced most of the grotesque stories associated with the collection. At various subsequent periods additions were made to the collection, and it was arranged in such manner as suited the knowledge of the day. Series of figures of kings of England and famous persons were made and added to or changed on the death of the sovereign. In later times the whole has been arranged by Sir Samuel Meyrick. Mr. Hewitt, and Mr. Planché, and in 1859 Mr. Hewitt drew up the first catalogue of the contents.

The mounted figures from 1826 till 1883 stood in a long gallery adjoining the south side of the Tower, but at the latter date this was pulled down, and the figures removed to the top floor. Within the last few years the floor below has been used for the later arms, but the lighting of the rooms and their shape, with various other causes, prevent any strictly chronological arrangements of the collection, many objects of which also belong to long periods of time.

The arms and armour are now placed on the two upper floors of the White Tower, the earlier weapons and all the armour, being on the top floor, while the later weapons and the Indian arms and armour, with various personal relics, are placed on what is the third stage or second floor. To this the visitor ascends by a circular staircase in the south front of the Tower. At the foot observe a brass plate recording the finding in 1674 of the supposed remains of the "Princes in the Tower," Edward V and his brother Richard Duke of York. The visitor then enters the Chapel of St. John, and on leaving passes into the smaller of the two rooms on this floor.

At the end of the room is a Persian horse armour of brass scales connected by chain mail. Near this is the quilted armour of the Burmese General Maha Bundoola, killed in 1824. At the other end of the room is a large bell from Burmah, presented by the late General Sir William Gomme, G.C.B., and near it are two figures with Japanese armour, one of them presented to Charles II when prince by the Mogul. It is interesting as being one of the earliest examples of Eastern armour which has an authentic record of its presence in this country, and it also exhibits the persistence in early forms so common in the East. The cases on either hand contain weapons, helmets, and armour from most parts of our Indian Empire, as well as weapons from Cabul, Persia, Africa, America, and the South Seas. Some of these were presented by the Honourable East India Company, some were acquired by purchase after the Great Exhibition of 1851, and others have been added at various times. In the centre of the room are models showing the Tower buildings in the years 1842 and 1866.

The Large Room is now entered, and on the left is a case containing firearms, hand grenades, and a series of the rifled arms in use in the British Army since 1801. These include the two Baker rifles of 1801 and 1807; the Brunswick rifle, 1836; the Minie rifle, 1851; the Enfield rifle musket, 1855; the Snider, 1865; the Martini-Henry, 1871; and the Lee-Metford magazine rifle. On the right, between two grotesque figures, called Gin and Beer, from the entrance to the Buttery of the old Palace of Greenwich, is a case containing executioners' swords (foreign), thumb-screws, the Scavenger's Daughter for confining the neck, hands, and feet, bilboes for ship use, and thumb-screws. Observe also the so-called "Collar taken from the Spanish Armada," which however was here in 1547, and has been in later times filled with lead to make it more terrible. It was only a collar for detention of ordinary prisoners. A conjectural model of the rack is also shown, but the only pictorial authority for this instrument (at no time a legal punishment) is a woodcut in Foxe's Martyrs, the illustrations for which were drawn from German sources.

On the left hand are cases of European firearms of the first half of the present century, and two cannon made for the Duke of Gloucester, the son of Queen Anne. In the S.E. corner, on a platform, are several early cannon, including one, and part of another, from the wreck of the Mary Rose, sunk in action with the French off Spithead in 1545. These display the early mode of construction of such weapons, namely; bars of iron longitudinally welded together and encircled by hoops of the same metal. On the window side in the recesses are wall pieces, which belonged to the Honourable East India Company. The figure of Queen Elizabeth is supposed to represent her as on her way to St. Paul's Cathedral after the destruction of the Spanish Armada. Near the lift are partizans carried by the Yeomen of the Guard, and round the pillars are the sergeants' halberds used in the Army till about 1830. Observe the kettledrums captured at the battle of Blenheim, 1704.

On the left hand observe the beheading axe, which has been here since 1687, also the block on which Lord Lovat, in 1747, lost his head at one stroke for the share he took in the attempt of the Pretender in 1745.

Beyond this, against the wall, is a model by John Bell of a monument for the Great Duke of Wellington. It was presented by the late Sir Daniel Lysons, Constable of the Tower, 1890-1898. Still on the left hand, in a glass case, is the soldier's cloak on which General Wolfe expired in the moment of victory, at Quebec, 1759.

Beyond, in another case, is the uniform worn as Constable of the Tower by the Great Duke of Wellington from 1826 until his death, in 1852.