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Scot Hurst

Scot Hurst is the Assistant Curator of Arms and Armour at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. From December 2021- January 2023 Scot is Curator of Asian & African Collections, maternity cover.

After completing his degree in History (BA Hons, Sheffield Hallam University 2006 - 2009) Scot Hurst began his museum career in 2010 with English Heritage, before joining the Royal Armouries Education Department in 2013. In 2015 a new opportunity presented itself, to work more closely with the National Firearms Centre as a Firearms Assistant and civilian instructor on the Combat Infantry Course, in association with Infantry Training Centre Catterick Garrison. Scot Hurst worked on the development and delivery of the ‘Realities of War’ programme to recruits from the Parachute Regiment, Guards Regiments and line infantry, providing courses on the history of the British Infantry, the history and development of firearms, and current enemy and allied weapon systems.

In November 2017, Scot Hurst joined the Royal Armouries curatorial team as Assistant Curator of Arms and Armour. Since joining, he has been involved in several ongoing museum projects, such as organising the Weapons in Society conference in September 2019 and co-curating the Tudor Power and Glory exhibition to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Field of Cloth of Gold in 2020.

Scot’s main areas of interest focus are medieval daggers and knives, and he has spent the last few years researching a significant group within the Royal Armouries collection, all of which were recovered from the river Thames. In November 2021, he delivered a paper on the Thames Daggers at the ICOMAM conference in Toledo. Other areas of research include a group of Indian armours from the Bikaner arsenal in Rajasthan.

Print Publications

  • Hurst, S. 2018. How to Read European Armor, Arms & Armour, Vol 15. No.2
  • Hurst, S. 2018. The Prince of Wales’ Shakespear Knife, The Field, July 2018
  • Hurst, S.  2019. An Indian Sporting Plug Bayonet, The Field, January 2019
  • Hurst, S. 2019. A Hounslow Hunting Hanger, The Field, March 2019
  • Dowen, K. and Hurst, S. 2020. Tudor Power and Glory: Henry VIII and the Field of Cloth of Gold, Royal Armouries, Leeds available to buy from our online shop
  • Hurst, S. 2022 (contributor) In Impey, E. (ed). 2022. Treasures of the Royal Armouries. A Panoply of Arms. Leeds: Royal Armouries available to buy from our online shop
  • Hurst, S. 2022. An 18th Century Painted Toradar, The Field, March 2022
  • Hurst, S. 2022, An 18th Century Bayonet from the Arsenal of Tipu Sultan, The Field, April 2022

Digital Publications

  • Hurst, S. 2017. The Writhen Hilt Sword, (online) Royal Armouries
  • Hurst, S. 2018. The Ii Kabuto, (online) Royal Armouries