Armoury Project,
​Publications & Mendlesham Heritage Fair

Exciting news ....
New discoveries about the Armoury! ​  Launch of 2 publications....

 Mendlesham possesses a unique 16th & 17th Century Armoury complete with original arms and armour. It also has a wealth of contemporaneous parish records. Thanks to funding by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, a group of volunteers was able painstakingly to photograph, transcribe, record and research entries from over 130 documents stored at Suffolk Archives, Ipswich, to provide more valuable insight into its history. These are the results of that research, launched at the recent successful Mendlesham Armoury Conference.

'Mendlesham Armoury Revisited - Revelations from the Parish Archives.' ​-
​a booklet by the Mendlesham Armoury Research Group.
Describing the project and discoveries made in Parish manuscripts about the  arms & armour and the soldiers who used it, viewed from a local perspective and posing some interesting questions.
64 pages: £11.50 incl p&p
​Cost for Mendlesham residents and to collect: £7.50*

​'Transcriptions of the Mendlesham Armoury Archives' ​- 
​a book by Shona Rutherford-Edge, with contributions by the Mendlesham Armoury Research Group. 
Transcriptions from the  manuscripts about the Armoury, its artefacts and local families relating to the arms and armour within the wider  historical context.
240 oages: £20 inc p&p
​Cost to Mendlesham residents and to collect: £15*

ALSO STILL AVAILABLE - the booklet which describes and explains the 'why, what and where' of the Mendlesham Armoury. This booklet was published thanks to generous localities grant by Suffolk County Council in 2024 ​

The Mendlesham Armoury
​by historian Shona Rutherford Edge.
32 pages: £7.50 inc. p&p.
​​Cost to Mendlesham residents and to collect: £5*

Each book has its own order form; for combinations of single copies, please see the green 
​*If you are a Mendlesham resident, or live locally and are able to arrange to collect copies,  Please send a message in the FURTHER INFORMATION box on the order form.

Mendlesham Armoury Conference
​Saturday 11th October. This was a great success and much appreciated. Sadly Keith Down was unable to attend, but Dr Toby Capwell gave a presentation in his place. Profit so far : £1556.72 for the Armoury Fund. Thanks to all who supported

Click HERE to download a pdf of the conference flyer

Armoury Facelift Project

Mendlesham Armoury, on the small upper floor of our north porch, is the only one remaining in any English parish church with its original parish collection of arms and armour. They have been stored in the same place since a law of Queen Mary Tudor compelled parishes to provide arms, armour and trained men to defend England against invasion, such as the later Spanish Armada in Elizabeth I’s reign.
Containing a motley collection of arms and armour dating from the early C16th- mid C17th, the armoury appears to have been maintained until shortly after the Outdated and no longer required, its contents silently rusted away for the next 250 years until the beginning of the C20th, when schoolmaster Arthur Mayfield alerted the Curate, the Revd William Partridge  He. in turn, consulted Sir Guy Lakin, the King's Armourer and members of the prestigious Meyrick Society. Due to their expertise and generosity it was restored and displayed in 1909 and preserved .  For the next 111 years the armoury was opened to the public by appointment and on advertised days, but as it is a relatively small, enclosed space, Covid restrictions in 2020 brought visits to an abrupt halt.
The Armoury Facelift Project has been initiated by St Mary’s PCC for better conservation, interpretation & display of this unique heritage so it can be passed onto future generations in the best condition. Some armour is currently hooked to the wall on pieces of bent wire! Plans include a comprehensive catalogue, bespoke mannequins/stands, museum-quality interpretations and audio-visual displays set in the body of the church for the benefit of people unable to climb the narrow winding stairway to the armoury. Although detailed costings have yet to be calculated, it is likely that it will cost well over £100,000.
Three leading armour specialists are advising and guiding the PCC –  Dr Tobias (Toby) Capwell, until recently Armourer of the Wallace Collection, David Edge, his predecessor and also Head of Conservation and Simon Metcalf, the King’s Armourer, responsible for the private Royal Arms and Armour collections. 

To kickstart the project, the PCC successfully obtained a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, first to seed-fund a Heritage Fair, held at the beginning of May 2024 to help reconnect the community to its Tudor history. You can see plenty of photos and descriptions of this below. Secondly, it is facilitating a research project into some documents found discarded in one of the church’s mid-C15th chests in the 1870s and now stored at the Hold - Suffolk Archives in Ipswich. Through photographing and translating each document we have discovered a tremendous amount about the history and context of the armoury and its contents and the associated local people
A superb booklet  about the armoury has been researched and produced about the armoury by historian Shona Rutherford-Edge, which you can purchase through the form below. 2 further booklets  are being produced showing the results of the document  research and will be launched at the Armoury Conference on 11th October.
St Mary’s Mendlesham PCC holds all funds raised and donated for the Armoury Facelift Project in a restricted fund to be used solely for that purpose. To date, this stands at approximately £22,000 To donate to the project, please use the bank details given below, using the reference  of your surname & Armoury.

** If you have ordered a booklet and have not heard from us, please contact via this link. While we have received several orders, we have no record of the order for 1 person who believed their order had gone through and there may possibly be others..**

Research Project at The Hold (Suffolk Archives) Ipswich

Thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, a historical Research Project centred on the Suffolk Archives took place from February to October 2025. It centred on some of the assorted C16th and C17th  "stitched papers crumpled by the hand" discovered in 1866 which had been "thrown" into one of the armoury’s C15th chests.  Some of these papers are documented in the 1876 Appendix to the Fifth Report of The Royal Commission on Historic Manuscripts. 
It was triggered by the chance discovery of a previously unresearched paper, which related directly to the Armoury and some of the Mendlesham men in Tudor times who used the arms and armour:

Detail of a manuscript muster list for the township of Mendlesham, Suffolk Archives, SA(I) Iveagh MSS HD1538/7 Vol.7/fol.54/1. Transcribed by Julie Craven.

"This document shows that the “touneschep of Mendylsame” continued to bring bows and even simple staffs to musters. The list of named men, along with the equipment they brought, shows that although some had “harness” (plate armour), a couple brought a hauberk of mail." ​(Shona Rutherford-Edge: Mendlesham Armoury Booklet)

We set out wanting to discover whether any more of these documents cast further light on the arms and armour. Several keen volunteers agreed to take part.  We then embarked on a series of visits to the Suffolk Archives at The Hold, Ipswich during specific weekdays to carry out and record this research. There was a preliminary visit to The Hold on Friday 13th September from 2.00pm - 4.00pm with a talk by Senior Archivist Bridget Hanley, and we had a chance to see and handle a lot of original documents. Several mentions of the armoury and its arms and armour were found which had not previously been recorded. All looks most exciting! After a preliminary visit in September 2024, the project was delayed because the Hold was closed from 1st October to 4th February to take in the East and West Suffolk archives.
We discovered there are no less than 114 Churchwardens records - some of them up to 10 pages long, nearly all written in Secretary Script. We have photographed all of them and gone through each painstakingly.
The results so far are really fascinating, with numerous mentions of our Mendlesham predecessors buying equipment and training. We are recording all the finds and now preparing to produce 2 booklets later in the year containing the conclusions.

The research has now produced 2 publications - as at the top of this page and resulted in an ARMOURY CONFERENCE on 11th OCTOBER 2025.
The Research Project concluded with the commissioning of a short film which summarises the project and links it to the Armoury. WATCH THIS SPACE! The film will be launched very soon, once the members of the Research Group have met for its premiere. 
​

Book:
​Mistress Kathleen's Kitchen

Research and Recipes by Kathleen Hallaways in her Tudor Food Demonstration at the Mendlesham Heritage Fair in May 2024.
Kathleen is selling this 68 page book on Tudor Food Price: £10
Copies available at:
M&M Butchers, Stowupland
The Copy Shop, Diss
or contact Kathleen directly, either by email ​here
 or phone: 01449 782100
​Thank you, Kathleen, for the huge amount of time and effort you have put into this!

​The details below remain on our website to show how the initiatives feeding into the Armoury Facelift Project have been progressing

'Fytt for thy degree: Clothing and arming the Typical Tudor man'

A huge Thank-You to Ninya Mikhaila, Dr Toby Capwell and the Medieval Dress and Textile Society (MEDATS)
for this very interesting and enjoyable online presentation on 11th October and for so generously offering ​all profits to the Mendlesham Armoury Facelift Project.
​72 people bought tickets and over an amazing £1,000 profit was made.​
​

 Ninya shared insights into the conventions of everyday dress and ownership of armour by men in 16th century England. Drawing on research carried out for the recent publication The Typical Tudor: Reconstructing 16th century dress, which included a survey of nearly 10,000 documents containing references to clothing, arms and armour, as well as research for a forthcoming publication on textile armour, Ninya illustrated how clothing styles, colours and materials changed through the period as well as the types and quantities of armour utilised by the different ‘sorts’ of men.
Dr Tobias (Toby) Capwell, historian and armour specialist, introduced the talk and answered questions at the end.
Ninya co-owns a business called the Tudor Tailor, which provides bespoke garments, patterns and other historical clothing items for the Tudor period for national museums, films and TV.   https://www.tudortailor.com/ 

THANK YOU for generous grants from the Arms and Armour Heritage Trust (£11,000) and the Arms and Armour Society (£125) towards the Armoury Facelift Project.

​Me​ndlesham Heritage Fair...

THANK YOU - to all who made this such a special event on 6th May!

The total profit towards the Armoury Facelift Project was an amazing £7,659.49. Thanks to the 75 who took part and the 67 adult volunteers who helped in all kinds of ways - plus the children of Mendlesham school and 1st Mendlesham Scouts - and of course to all who came on the day. It was an absolutely wonderful afternoon... over 600 people came to listen, learn and enjoy themselves and despite rain falling a mile below the southern parish boundary the entire time, Mendlesham stayed dry. Thanks, of course, to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for helping to make this possible. Most important of all, great inroads were achieved towards the main aim, which was reconnecting the community with its unique Tudor heritage.
We intend soon to contact those of you who gave positive feedback and want to be involved with the project in the future. Some photos are below, we have just added some more and we hope to add further ones soon.....

Though the Heritage Fair has now taken place, the details below this are retained for the benefit of any who wish to read about the project and what took place.

Thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund!

Mendlesham PCC welcomes the exciting award by the Heritage Fund of a generous grant of £9,993 to include both the Heritage Fair and a research project (more about that later!). This  enabled us to make this event extra special, and meant we were able to have an amazing array of demonstrations, talks and activities to help the community re-engage with its unique Tudor heritage in a way not possible without the grant.... and though it was a top quality event, entry was  truly affordable!

 Mendlesham's Unique​ Tudor Armoury

The Heritage Fair was part of St Mary’s PCC's exciting plans for better conservation and display of this amazing heritage, plus greater community involvement....   

Unfortunately, due to the large number of people  attending the Heritage Fair on 6 May the armoury itself could not be open as it is too small to accommodate many at once.
However, a short film was shown throughout the afternoon- and there was both replica armourto handle and The Tudor Group, wearing authentic armour re-creating the 'traynings' of the parish militia.

Featuring...

New Booklets launched

Historian Shona Rutherford-Edge has kindly written 3 special booklets launched and available to purchase at the Heritage Fair at a special price:

1. The Mendlesham Armoury - a thoroughly-researched booklet about the armoury and its history, which sheds new light on this unique asset and its broader context within  the county of Suffolk and contemporaneous national events. We are grateful to Suffolk County Council for their generous grant towards producing this booklet, through Councillor Jessica Fleming's localities fund.
2. Why is there Armour in Mendlesham Church? - a children's activity book, which explains why this is and also offers a wealth of interesting information and  enjoyable activities for children aged between 8 and 14 and
3. Katherine Walker and the Armada Medal - a delightful story set in Tudor Mendlesham and bringing it to life for children aged about 6 to 12  featuring real people whose names appear on parish registers as they might well have been.

There are only a few of bookleets no.2 & no.3 now remaining

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Art Exhibition: pupils of Mendlesham Primary School ​

- was displayed in the church  as part of the village school’s study of local history and involvement in this community project. Some wonderful pictures resulted from the recent site visit by one class, seen here busy at work in a photo taken by their teacher. The other photos show just a sample of their work.

Film: England's Forgotten Tudor Armoury by Dr Allan Barton​

​ -Though the armoury couldn’t be open at the Heritage Fair, as it wasn't safe in the small space with so many people coming, one marquee in the south churchyard was set out as a mini-cinema, where, on a large screen,  people were able to sit and watch this superb, recently-made film which explains the history pf the armoury - why it is there and exactly how it looks inside. 

​Food & Drink: 

12.- no event is complete without food and drink and the Heritage Fair was no exception, with a great variety to help sustain youpeople throughout the afternoon: in church - Teas, Coffees, Squash, Cakes, Sausage Rolls: (Friends of St Mary’s) and in the first south churchyard Beer, wine, soft drinks  together with Hog Roast: (Harris’s Hog Roast); Home-made Cakes, Scones: (Mendlesham WI) & Hot Dogs & Burgers: (1st Mendlesham Scouts). ...In the photos you can see how the preparation for the day evolved, from putting up, the bunting and  marquees and canopies to clearing them away. with the exciting event in between.

Blacksmith: Paul Stoddart

of Kingdom Forge, Brundish, who entered the profession aged just 18, training for two years at the National School of Blacksmithing in Herefordshire and then adding the qualifications of welding, fabrication and light machining.
​10 years later, he not only who runs courses for people wanting to try this craft but is also Armourer for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden making swords and other blades for stage productions both there and elsewhere and also for films. People watched Paul working at his gas-powered forge, discussed with him the challenges of his craft and saw some of his superbly hand-crafted metal artefacts.

Beekeepers: SDBKA

 - Stowmarket and District Beekeeper’s Association, an association passionate about bees and beekeeping in the local area and affiliated to the British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA). People discussed with  its members, this fascinating centuries-old craft and learnt from some who have decades of experience about, beekeeping equipment, types of hives and best locations, lifecycle of the honeybee, the beekeeper’s calendar and other mystiques of beekeeping.. There was also the opportunity to buy some of their bee-related products.

Wattle & Daub: Orchard Barn

Wattle and daub is the ‘wall-filling’ between the timbers in the numerous Tudor and medieval timber-framed buildings found in Suffolk - and Orchard Barn is  a community-run centre in mid-Suffolk and CPD Provider recognised by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC). Its mainstay is providing practical courses  in heritage building, natural greenwood and rural skills.  
Some of its specialists showed how to make daub from clay subsoil and straw, demonstrated how to apply daub to a wattle panel and talked about the use of coppiced woodland materials and earth as building materials in older buildings. This zero-carbon process continues to benefit the environment as it has done for centuries.

Longbows:  Clive Bartlett 

–  a renowned specialist in Longbows and leading author on the subject, who helped catalogue the many Tudor bows lifted from the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s ill-fated flagship. Our Armoury contains part of a rare late Tudor longbow and Clive talked about that, as well asbringing some of his own extensive collection of longbows which people could handle whilst gleaning some of his extensive knowledge. 

Live Tudor Music on Recorders & Crumhorns  

The gentle sounds of Tudor madrigals, dances, songs and the delights of other Tudor music accopanied the Heritage Fair the entire afternoon. It was played on recorders and crumhorns by 3 consorts taking turns throughout.. Their music played inside the church was broadcast to the churchyards – The Arcadian Consort  -  4 players established for 15 years, who play a wide range of music at open gardens and similar events around Bury St Edmunds; Alice and Fran - a pair of musicians based in Suffolk, who regularly perform in venues across the county and Windbags –  featuring 7 players from another Suffolk-based  group. During their breaks people could talk to the musicians about their varied instruments.

Heraldic Calligraphy: David Truzzi-Franconi 

- a Suffolk-based freelance Heraldic Artist and Calligrapher, specialising in the production of Funerary Hatchments and panels depicting the Royal Arms, Letters Patent and illuminated documents such as Freedom Certificates. He is a Former Deputy to the Clerk of the Records at  Her Majesty's College of Arms, Fellow of the Society of Heraldic Art and Member of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators. At the Heritage Fair he was inside the church, where people could watch him working on a funerary hatchment – not far from an original one which is on the south wall  - and see some more examples of his work.

Suffolk Village Spinners and Weavers

The ethos of the group is to keep traditional wool-related skills alive, including spinning, weaving and dyeing and they regularly demonstrate at the Suffolk Show. At the Heritage Fair people watched members at their spinning wheels and loom and talked with them about the intricacies of these ancient crafts.

Tudor Food: Mistress Kathleen's Tudor Kitchen

 - researched and devised by former librarian Kathleen Halllaways. People came to savour the delights of Tudor food, from saffron chicken to Pease Pottage, a variety of breads to fruit pastries, gingerbread and frangipane. They also had the opportunity to knead dough; churn butter; test their knowledge of the Spice Woman’s basket and choose their device for a tournament fancy.

Armour Expert - David Edge

- who is a former Head of Conservation and Armourer (now Armourer Emeritus) at the Wallace Collection in London, a contributing author of ‘Masterpieces of European Arms and Armour in the Wallace Collection’ ("Book of the Year" – Apollo Awards, 2012) and author of “Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight" (1988). He is also a member of the prestigious Meyrick Society.
After the curate The Revd W Partridge reported piles of armour rusting away on the upper floor of the north porch in 1908, the Meyrick Society  restored it - and its members kindly paid for the restoration as the village couldn’t afford the cost..
At the Heritage Fair people  heard David  talk about 16th & 17th Century arms and armour, asked him questions, saw some of his collection of real armour - and also had a go trying-on some replica pieces which he brought!

​Stained Glass Artist – Benjamin Finn

Amongst the most notable practitioners of his craft in the UK, Ben has been working in stained-glass for thirty years, using techniques both familiar with Tudor artists and newly-developed ways of adapting this art form to today’s tastes.
​Ben has been commissioned to make over twenty new church windows, including one in each of Southwark and Chelmsford cathedrals, as well as windows and panels for houses, schools and exhibitions, such as the Ely Stained Glass museum. He has also repaired and renewed dozens of damaged stained glass windows.
One of his latest works, commissioned during the Covid pandemic for Whittlesford church in Cambridgeshire depicts both the suffering and hope of that turbulent time in a highly thought-provoking way.
​People could watch Ben at the Heritage Fair working on a small piece of stained glass, see some examples of his superb work and talk with him about his exacting and meticulous techniques... read more about Ben and his work at https://www.benjaminfinn.com/​

Potters - Leon & Jenny Petterson

 -who have lived and worked for over 40 years in Stowupland, next to Mendlesham,  making hand-decorated earthenware and stoneware pottery by slip-casting & wheel throwing. Their basic working methods would have been  familiar to our Tudor forebears but they have adapted this age-old skill to suit the needs of people in this century and their high quality work is stocked in places such as local National Trust shops, Southwold Gallery and Alder Carr Farm, where their daughter Jenny has recently become resident potter.
People watched them working at their potter’s wheel at the Heritage Fair, had the opportunity to talk to them about their craft and bought some of their beautiful hand-finished items.
Click here  to read more about Leon and Jenny's work.

​HRW - History Re-enactment Workshop

–  a small, nationally-based interpretation group, covering the Tudor and Stuart periods, who take an historic building and recreate historic families in the first person, to allow you to experience history in the place it was made.
 In this living history experience, as people approached their marquee, they found themselves transported to the year 1588, hearing local characters discussing the worry that their husbands, sons, brothers etc. will be taken into the local militia and marched away into the army to fight invading Spaniards.
Children were invited to put on a blue shirt and red cap supplied by the group and join in exercising the Cannon ‘Gun Team’. . They went through the drill (non-firing, of course) overseen by a servant of the Deputy Lord Lieutenant,  sent to  explain the ins and outs of gunnery either at sea or the castle wall.
lick here​ to read more about HRW.

 The Tudor Group

​In a nation with no standing army, its defence relied on the local Trained Bands – a part-time militia made up from labourers and craftsmen of the parish - – the ‘Dad’s Army’ of its time. People saw and talked to The Tudor Group in armour and red caps – looking and practising like the 1588 Mendlesham parish ‘trained band’  –  with muskets, caliver, swords, bows and bills  plus halberd & half pike – and the ‘Parish Clerk’ at his desk with quills, ink and parchment to record it.

 Click here to read more about the Tudor Group

Traditional Oak Carpentry

People watched Rick Lewis  making traditional cleft oak framing pegs just as they would have been made 450 years ago to fasten mortice and tenon joints – and his collection of ancient carpentry tools used to build timber framed buildings of the past.
Rick has been repairing Medieval, Tudor and later traditional framed buildings in Suffolk for 35 years, gaining an excellent reputation with his team at Traditional Oak Carpentry Ltd.   They have built Anglo-Saxon framed structures at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, siege machines for Historic Royal Palaces at the Tower of London as well as the Medieval carpentry section in the BBC series “How We Built Britain” with David Dimbleby. 
Click here to read more about Traditional Oak Carpentry Ltd.