White Tower Top Floor
The Top Floor galleries contain The Ordnance Gallery and the Temporary Exhibition Gallery.
The Ordnance Gallery explores the history of the Ordnance and some of its associated establishments. The Ordnance Department grew out of the medieval Wardrobe – the department charged with supplying all the outward trappings of majesty required by monarchs from robes and furniture to warlike stores and weapons and equipment for their personal guard.
At the height of its power, the Ordnance was the principal government department at the Tower with offices and stores throughout the site. By the 18th century it supplied weapons and equipment to the Army (Land Service) and Navy (Sea Service), with the Tower as its central depot. The great Tower displays were drawn from its stores.
By the 19th century the failings of its supply system were becoming evident, and the Crimean War proved one campaign too many. As a result the Office of Ordnance was dissolved in 1855 and its functions taken over by the War Department. Today the remains of its arsenal stores form the core of the Royal Armouries collections.
Look out for the bow stave from the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s flag ship, which was recovered from the wreck in the 19th century. The early hand guns and small cannon made from long strips of iron bound together with hoops rather than being cast are a testament to mankind’s ingenuity struggling to harness the explosive power of gunpowder. Throughout the gallery there are racks of wooden powder barrels, recalling the time when the White Tower was the principal powder magazine in the country.
The eastern side of the floor houses the Temporary Exhibition Gallery, currently hosting Hands on History – a joint Royal Armouries / Historic Royal Palaces exhibition, with sponsorship from the History Channel and the Royal Mint.
A selection of replica arms and armour invite you to get to grips with ten centuries of arms and armour at the Tower and explore the history of threat and response.
- Work out which Norman weapon is best and when.
- Draw the longbow and see just how far you can shoot an arrow.
- Look through the visor of a pig-faced basinet and surround yourself with the sights and sounds of the 100 Years War.
- Face up to Henry VIII in his armour, and find out its strengths and weaknesses.
- Practise your artillery skills and discharge the cannon.
- Feel the weight of a flintlock gun and look at the power of shot.
- Meet a 21st century Fusilier and find out the demands of modern military life.
Above each interactive, the timeline helps you work out what else was going on at the time at the Tower and in the wider world.
