A Visit To The Royal Armouries

After years of looking at objects from the royal armouries in photos online, I finally had the chance to visit the museum in Leeds. I saw some of the ancient artefacts up close and in person for the first time.

Below I am going to share some photos of some of the things that stood out to me.

A collection of the Roman Gladius and scabbards.

I was particularly drawn to the second from the left in this picture because it shows off the simplicity of these weapons and a clear indication of how they would have been forged.

A beautiful example of a 14th-15th century arming sword.

I was drawn to this sword because of the extremely defined mid rib along the blade. This is something I have yet to try on my own blades. The quality of this work really puts into perspective the dedication these people had to their craft.

The shaping and contours of the pommel further support the skill involved in historical craftsmanship, especially noting the fact that they had no access to power tools.

The legendary writhen hilt sword.

Anybody interested in historical swords would have seen this in photos. For me, seeing it in person is how others might feel about meeting a celebrity!

The well-preserved finish on the blade reinforces my idea about medieval sword finishes displaying tooling marks in the blade, even on high-end pieces such as this.

The guilded hilt is a beautiful addition to this rather simple blade.

One of the Wakefield Falchion/hanger swords.

I have been looking at this collection of swords for a long time. This one stood out to me and immediately inspired me to go home and make my own version based loosely on this with a few changes to suit my personal preference.

My version of a Wakefield Falchion.

As you can see, this is modelled on the sword I observed in the museum. However, I made a few changes such as putting a belly on the blade to increase cutting power. I also widened the fuller to lighten to sword further. I increased the size of the metal hilt components to bring the balance further back towards the hilt. I forged the hilt with the nagle from a single piece which truly put my skills to the test.

Bronze Pommel.

This pommel showcases how the perfect fit and finish expected on modern blades simply wasn't a priority for medieval smiths as a solid connection could be achieved by using Cutler's resin and wedges made of different materials.

Seeing so many objects up close and personal was a window into the mindset of medieval smiths and how they prioritised different aspects of the craft to what we do now. They did not concentrate on superficial things such as symmetry and perfection but rather created a functional object that displays artistic beauty through its handmade aesthetic.