The Worshipful Company of

Armourer Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. In modern terms, an armourer is a member of a military or police force who works in an armoury and maintains and repairs small arms and weapons systems, ...

s and Brasiers is one of the livery companies of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. The Armourers' Guild was established in 1322; it received a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

in 1453. Other companies, including the Armour Repairers, merged with the Armourers. In 1708, brass workers joined the company, which was renamed as the Armourers' and Brasiers' Company. The company does support the metallurgy industry, but does not retain a close association with its original trade, as is the case with a majority of livery companies. It exists primarily as a charitable establishment. The company is based at Armourers' Hall, situated on the corner of

Coleman Street Coleman Street is one of the 25 ancient wards of the City of London and lies on the City's northern boundary with the London Borough of Islington. The ward, which includes land lying on either side of the former city wall, takes its name from ...

and

London Wall The London Wall was a defensive wall first built by the Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, and is now the name of a modern street in the City of London. It has origins as an initial mound wall and ...

, and has occupied this same site since 1346. The hall was one of the very few to escape destruction in the Great Fire of London in 1666. In 1795, the hall was enlarged, but it was decided in 1839 to rebuild it completely. The lantern, or dome, of the livery hall was added in 1872. On 29 December 1940, during a major blitz on London, the surrounding area was devastated, but again the hall survived. The Armourers' and Brasiers' Company ranks twenty-second in the

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

of livery companies. The company's motto is ''We Are One''.

External links

The Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers

External links

Further reading