Armourers’ Hall

The site of the Hall was acquired by the Company in 1428 when it was described as the Dragon and Five Shops. The buildings were converted, extended and repaired, and in 1666 survived the Great Fire which was checked only a few yards away from it.

In 1795, the Hall was enlarged, but the Court decided in 1839 to rebuild the Hall completely which, together with its furnishings, cost £10,533. Essentially this building is the present Hall. It was designed by John Henry Good, the Company’s Surveyor.

On the 29th December 1940, during a major blitz on London, the surrounding area was devastated, but again the Hall survived. The Armourers and Brasiers’ Company are much indebted to an unknown fireman who, seeing the curtains of the Court Room ablaze, broke into the Hall and extinguished the flames. Although his identity may never be known, his quick thinking undoubtedly saved the Hall.

The Armourers & Brasiers’ Company

The Livery Companies of the City of London started as Craft Guilds, originally for social and religious interchange, but increasingly for the protection and improvement of their craft.

In 1322, in the reign of King Edward II, the Guild of St George of the Armourers was instituted, by ordinance of the City of London, which laid down regulations for the control of the trade. King Henry VI presented the Armourers with their first Royal Charter in May 1453.

The Company’s present Charter was granted in 1708 by Queen Anne, giving the Brasiers (workers in brass and copper), who had become involved with the Company as early as the 16th century, equal status with the Armourers.

As the Armourers to the Services, the Company played a special role in the defence of the City and its connections with the Armed Forces persist to this day, particularly the award of prizes for excellence to young service personnel. It also has long traditions of charity and hospitality.

Armourers & Brasiers’ Gauntlet Trust

The Trust was founded in 1979 and two thirds of its funds are devoted to the promotion of Materials Science, which is now the great pre- occupation of the Company. Materials Science is particularly appropriate to the Company because it is, like the making of armour and brass and copper ware, multidisciplinary and belongs to the area where pure science and engineering combine. The Company seeks to encourage education in science from primary to postdoctoral levels and has close connections with schools and universities throughout the United Kingdom. It also seeks to extend the use of materials science in commercial and industrial ways, has contacts with industry and has entered into partnership schemes with Rolls-Royce, Corus and AWE to further this. It works closely with the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Chemistry Its latest venture is to institute a prize of for the best scheme for the commercial use of materials. The last third of the Trust’s funds is used for the ancient charitable interests of the Company: the care of the young and the elderly, the exercise of the Christian Faith and the study of Arms and Armour.