Issues of Exhibits from the Tower

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From the seventeenth century armour was always issued from the Tower to the Royal Champions. Issues were also made for the Lord Mayor's procession of 25 suits and some hundreds of weapons to Colley Cibber, the actor of Drury Lane, and other individuals, a practice condemned by the Lord Chamberlain and put an end to in 1877.

Issues were also made in large quantities for decorative purposes from 1861 onwards to castles, fortresses, and military establishments.

As the records of these issues had become very confused, and in many cases were missing, in 1926 the War Office transferred the whole of the issues of obsolete weapons, numbering over 30,000 pieces, on inventory charge to the Armouries.

Among these issues were found a number of Colours belonging to local militia regiments raised in 1808; and in 1913-14 these Colours were repaired and returned to their respective localities. In every case they were received with public ceremony and honour.

Such in brief is the history of the Armouries of the Tower. While they cannot equal the magnificent collections of Vienna, Madrid, and Munich, they are unique in that the armours have been in the same building for over 400 years.