Late 15th C Helmets

Armet from St Mary’s, Bury St Edmunds. A composite helmet that combines an armet skull and cheek pieces from c 1460-85 with a pivoted bevor and visor c 1485-1500

Funeral close-helmet of Richard Dering (d 1481) from Pluckley Kent now in the Royal Armouries, Leeds. The helmet is missing its visor and additional chin/neck plates.

Close-helmet incorporating a sallet skull and brow reinforce with an armet visor c 1480 from St Peter’s Church, Stourton, Wiltshire now in the Royal Armouries, Leeds. An almost identical helmet is depicted in The Pageants of Richard Beauchamp (1481)

Skull cap type sallet c.1480 discovered during the construction of the Fortune Theatre, Golden Lane, London in the 1920’s. Previously in the armour collection of Henry G Keasby

Engraving of the Eardisley sallet from Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol 6 Iss 21 (1889)

Sallet skull circa 1480 with later additions to form an armet style funeral helm from East Shefford Chruch, Lambourne

Traditionally this helmet is believed to have been worn by the Duke of Somerset during the Battle of Hexham fought in 1464. It was kept within Hexham Abbey after the Duke’s execution and burial within the Abbey. During the English Civil War Colonel John Fenwick removed the helmet for his own use but following his death at the Battle of Marston Moor the helmet was retrieved along Colonel Fenwick’s skull and both were returned to the Abbey. The helmet is currently on display in Hexham Old Gaol museum as part of the 550th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Hexham.

Helmets from St Mary Magdalene Church, Eardisley, Herefordshire. Whilst the helmet on the right is from the mid 16th Century, the helmet on the left is a 15th century sallet. The helmet is missing its visor (holes are present for the pivots) but it does have a row of brass rivets together with fragments of its leather lining. There is a makers marks of a crowned ‘I’ and a spur indicate Italian, possibly Milanese, manufacture. Tradition has it that the sallet was excavated from the old moat at Eardisley Castle along with other fragments of arms and armour.

The Trevanion (or Bosworth) Sallet. A relic from St Mary’s Church, Caerhays, Cornwall and traditionally worn by one of the Trevanions who fought for Henry Tudor at Bosworth. The helmet was sadly stolen in the 1950’s and has never been recovered.

The Blithfield Sallet, supposedly worn by Richard Bagot who was killed at Bosworth fighting for Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth (1485).This family heirloom was later used as a funeral helm in St Leonard’s Church, Blithfield. The addition to the lower edge of the visor is the top lame of a 16thC pauldron. The helmet is now on display at Lichfield Heritage Centre

Previously held within St Philip and St James Parish Church, Witton-le-Wear, Co Durham. On permanent loan since the mid 1970’s to the Royal Armouries, Leeds.

The Victoria and Albert Sallet.

The Victoria and Albert Sallet. This helmet was reputedly discovered in the moat of a castle in either Worcestershire or Warwickshire.The helmet was bequeathed to the Museum in 1927 from the collection of Major Victor Farquharson. A note in the Museum’s Object Register shows a photograph of the helmet before restoration showing a hole in the crown for attaching a crest and a missing piece to the visor, now filled in.

The Coventry Sallet. Made c 1460. During the 19th century it was used in Coventry’s Godiva Procession. For a period it was kept on display at St Mary’s Hall, Coventry and is now shown at the city’s Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.