The Royal Armouries is one of the ancient institutions of the Tower of London and was originally engaged in the manufacture of armourfor the Kings of England. In 1545, it is recorded that a visiting foreign dignitary paid to view the collection at the Armoury. By the time of Charles II, there was a permanent public display there; the ‘Spanish Armoury’ which included instruments of torture and the ‘Line of Kings’ – a row of wooden effigies representing the kings of England. This makes it the first museumin Britain.[2]From 1414, the Tower was home to the Master of the Ordnanceand the Ordnance Office (later the Board of Ordnance) who were responsible for providing weapons to both the Armyand Navy. The Tower was engaged in the development, manufacture and storage of a wide variety of weaponry until the Board was abolished in 1855, however the historic collection remained. Only a small part of this could be displayed and in 1995, much of the artillerycollection was moved to Fort Nelsonin Hampshireand the following year a new Royal Armouries Museumwas opened in Leeds. The remaining part of the collection relates directly to the Tower.