The Worshipful Company of Gunmakers

www.gunmakers.org

Nomination Dinner
November 2011, Stationers’ Hall, London

  

Midsummer Banquet
June 2010, Glaziers'/Launderers' Hall, London

  

Nomination Dinner
November 2009, Stationers' Hall, London

    

THE GUNMAKERS’ COMPANY

The Company was incorporated by Royal Charter on 14 March 1637 in the reign of King Charles I. Under the Charter the Company was given control over both the gunmakers’ craft, and the safety of small arms, through powers of search, view, gauge, proof and marking.

The Company’s power to prove small arms has continued to this day, and has been confirmed in various Gun Barrel Proof Acts. Thus the Gunmakers Mark, the letters ‘GP crowned’, originally approved by Charter, is still in use today. The Company is one of the few in the City which still carries on the purpose for which it was founded. Since 1988, the Company has also had responsibility for certifying deactivated firearms.

The Company is unique as a City Livery Company in always having been located outside the City walls, due to the noise and risk originally perceived from proof activity. The Company’s first buildings in 1637 were by Aldgate, and then in 1675 it moved to the present site in Whitechapel. The buildings comprise the Proof House built in 1757, the Receiving Room designed for the efficient delivery and inspection of weapons and the Proof Master’s house now used as offices, both built in 1826, and various workshops. Next door is Gunmakers’ Hall, built in 1872, sold in 1927, but repurchased in 2007.