This makes it the first museum in Britain. By the time of Charles II, there was a permanent public display there the 'Spanish Armoury' which included instruments of torture and the 'Line of Kings'-a row of wooden effigies representing the kings of England. In 1545, it is recorded that a visiting foreign dignitary paid to view the Armoury collection at the Tower of London. The Armoury oversaw storehouses and workshops at Woolwich and Portsmouth, and at various royal palaces (most notably the Greenwich Armoury, which specialized in richly decorated ceremonial armour). Overseen from 1423 by the Master of the King's Armour, and based in the White Tower, the Office was responsible for manufacturing armour and edged weapons for the monarch and his armies it functioned alongside the Office of Ordnance, which had responsibility for firearms. The Office of the Armoury grew out of the department known as the King's Privy Wardrobe at the Tower of London in the mid-15th century. The Royal Armouries is one of the ancient institutions of the Tower of London and was originally engaged in the manufacture of armour for the Kings of England and their armies.

Originally housed in the Tower of London from the 15th century, today the collection is split across three sites: the Tower, the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, and Fort Nelson near Portsmouth įrom 2004 to 2015, a limited selection of items was also on display in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States, in cooperation with the Frazier History Museum. It is also one of the largest collections of arms and armour in the world, comprising the UK's National Collection of Arms and Armour, National Artillery Collection, and National Firearms Collection. Once an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Part of the display at the Tower of London

Privateeyes royal armory