Keith Dowen FSA, FRHistS
Assistant Curator of European Armour at Royal Armouries, Honorary Deputy Editor Journal of the Arms and Armour Society, Editorial Team Member Acta Militaria Mediaevalia, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom’s national museum of arms and armour, and one of the most important museums of its type in the world. We have a long history, dating back to the Middle Ages. Our celebrated core collection originated in the nation’s working arsenal, which was assembled over many centuries at the Tower of London. The Royal Armouries are heir to one of the oldest deliberately created visitor attractions in the country. Objects were being arranged for display to visitors as early as Queen Elizabeth’s reign in the 16th century. Our collection of about 75,000 items – excluding approximately 2,700 loans to other bodies – is now displayed and housed in our historical home at the White Tower in the Tower of London but also at our purpose-built museum in Leeds, and at Fort Nelson near Portsmouth.
