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The Line of Kings - Part 4

1868 - 2011

A colour photo of a row of high medieval armour under purple and warm lighting against a stone wall

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Despite its great public appeal, the New Horse Armoury was causing the War Office problems. Attempts to repair it in 1869 had failed. The roof leaked badly with water pouring onto the objects. Furthermore, the building built in 1826 was suffering subsidence. These faults, and the desire to improve the appearance of the Tower of London by removing unnecessary buildings, led to the ‘Line’ again being moved to another location.

In 1882-3 the wooden horses and their riders were placed for the first time inside the White Tower. They were moved to the top floor into a large room known as the Council Chamber. This room’s shape and size were not suitable for having the figures in a single line as before. However, the objects remained a great attraction and the chamber became known as the Horse Armoury.

Once it was empty, plans were made to demolish the New Horse Armoury. This would reveal the south side of the Norman White Tower and improve the feel of the whole site as a medieval castle. The demolition of the New Horse Armoury building, which had housed the ‘Line of Kings’ from 1827 to 1882, was completed in about 1885.

The display of armoured figures seated on carved wooden horses continued to be one of the site’s top attractions. This floor of the White Tower had large light wells at this time, allowing daylight into the rooms below. The Horse Armoury was laid out around these features, which had distinctive railings made from real swords and pistols. Not long after the Horse Armoury was moved in the Council Chamber, electric lighting was introduced to improve visitors’ experience of the exhibition.

The popularity of the new display is reflected in the variety of picture postcards. From about 1900 these provided many different views of the objects. The Yeoman Warders no longer led visitors around the Horse Armoury. Yet they had the right to sell postcards of the Tower which many visitors bought as souvenirs or posted for friends and family to see.

A black and white photograph of two gentlemen, one seated and one standing
Charles ffoulkes and Viscount Dillon of the Tower Armouries in February 1913.

As well as continuing to develop as a very popular visitor attraction, the Tower Armouries was gradually emerging as the national centre for the study of arms and armour. After decades of unsuccessful attempts, a curator with in-depth knowledge of the subject was at last appointed in 1895. Viscount Dillon was the author of many books and articles. He set about carefully researching the collection, which had previously been in the care of the War Office Storekeeper and his assistants. 

The task was challenging as ‘a huge mass of rubbish and spurious armour were allowed even then to remain amongst the historic and genuine specimens. It is only since Lord Dillon undertook the great task, on which he is still engaged, of re-arranging and re-cataloguing the arms and armour in the White Tower, that it can be properly studied and appreciated.’ Dillon retired in 1913 and was replaced by another armour scholar, Charles ffoulkes. By the start of the First World War in 1914, almost the entire White Tower was filled with displays of arms and armour.

The displays were improved by combining popular visitor appeal with better research into the history of arms and armour. New catalogues and guidebooks were also published. The royal armours and the carved horses remained important attractions, sometimes arranged like a procession, sometimes in a row along the walls. Some were even placed in different rooms. Occasionally it was necessary to replace one or two of the 17th-century wooden horses which had become rotten, with modern replacements.

In the 1970s and 1980s restoration work on selected 17th-century horses provided opportunities for research into their materials and construction. This showed that they differed internally and were rare survivals of carving by leading craftsmen at that time. At the same time, research by Dr Alan Borg at The National Archives identified orders and invoices of their commissioning, early visitor accounts and printed guides.

A black and white photo of the White Tower at the Tower of London in 1916
Inscribed with “OURS” Today”. April. 10. 1916. C.ff. by the curator Charles ffoulkes to mark the opening of the entire White Tower to the public as the ‘Armouries at the Tower of London.’
A sepia tone photograph of a display of armour from the 19th century
The Horse Armoury as it appeared in the late 19th century. London, 1890. I.1093.

Research into the history of the ‘Line of Kings’ using archives, historic photographs and surviving objects had revealed the unusual and fascinating story of a display at the Tower that had been attracting paying visitors since the late seventeenth century.

Following the establishment during the 1990s of two new Royal Armouries Museums, one at Fort Nelson, Hampshire for the artillery collection and the other in a purpose-built headquarters at Leeds, it was possible for the Royal Armouries displays at the Tower to focus on the history of that site. The time was now right for a re-display of all the galleries of the White Tower. This included one representing the Horse Armoury or ‘Line of Kings’ by giving an impression of how it had once looked.

This posed several problems for the curators to deal with. One difficulty was that not all the objects that had once formed the display in the Horse Armoury could be identified in the collection. In addition, some of the most important pieces of the surviving arms and armour were now displayed at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds. It was therefore decided that ‘There is neither the space nor enough surviving horses to reconstruct the entire Line. Moreover, its composition changed during the centuries of display…The Line today [1998], therefore seeks to give a modern interpretation of this unusual exhibition’.

This re-interpretation of the ‘Line’ also faced a challenge because research into the history of arms and armour over the last 200 years had revealed that many former statements that the kings were shown wearing their actual armour were incorrect. This would have made it very confusing for visitors if Elizabethan armour was used again for the figures of medieval kings. Eventually, the mounted figures in armour were represented wearing a plain early 17th century Greenwich armour of the type known to have been used in the Line. The recreated display was seen by millions, including the late Queen Elizabeth and by the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III.

From a display of royal power to a historic attraction in the heart of London, the Line of Kings has endured for over 400 years. In the 5th and final part of our look at the display, we explore how new research continues to shape the look of the Line, and why it looks as it does today.

A colour photo of three suits of metal armour in descending rows. All three are held in three glass cases.

Visit the Line of Kings

The Line of Kings is displayed in the worlds oldest museum, where visitors have admired the arms and armour of English and British monarchs for centuries. From suits of armour designed for young princes to chest plates engraved with declarations of love and union, the Line of Kings is a fascinating look into not only strength of arms but the projection of power etched into metal. The Line of Kings is currently located in the White Tower. Admission is free to visitors with their Tower of London ticket.

Plan your visit to the Tower of London

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