What is Parish Armour?
Every village in England was required to send young men to fight in the Civil War, as Pikemen. These conscripts, clad only in leather jerkins, were ‘cannon fodder’ in the battles and had to fight mounted cavalry, who were armed with swords and other lethal weapons – and wore armour.
Those villages which could afford it thus purchased a suit of armour for their soldier, usually made by the local blacksmith. Hence, the concept of “Parish Armour”; it remained the property of the parish.
The story of the parish armour belonging to Carbrooke.
The Lost Armour
There had been rumours for decades that pieces of a suit of armour were hidden in Carbrooke, with some residents even claiming to have seen them. In more recent years, however, they appeared to have been lost.
The armour itself had been recorded much earlier, appearing in The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1826, which noted that “several pieces of old armour” were kept in the room above the north porch and were said to belong to the Knights Templars buried there. The writer suggested that these were the same items listed in the inventory, including “two corslets belonging to ye town, wth two swords and two daggers to them belonging,” together with pikes and a musket.
During the 2018 Heritage Festival at the church, while searching for something else, a member of the PCC discovered what she recognised as the missing armour. We were delighted to have rediscovered it.
Restoration
The armour was sent to Norwich Museum and the Royal Armourer for examination because of its significance. Given Carbrooke’s historic association with the Knights Hospitaller, it had been presumed to be medieval. Instead, specialists at Norwich Museum dated it to the mid-to-late seventeenth century. The museum was enthusiastic about such a rare discovery, and the armour has since been professionally conserved for the village at a cost of almost £2,500.
Display
Carbrooke has 13 pieces from a suit of Parish Armour dating from the English Civil War period (1642-1651).
Mike Botting, volunteered to make and donate a cabinet in which to display the armour; and to obtain sponsorship from local people and businesses to defray the cost of conservation. He also donated the model ‘Knight’ for display purposes.
The Armour is on permanent display in the church, and can be viewed whenever the church is open, or by arrangement.
Continue Exploring
Reference
Lindsay Boynton, The Elizabethan Militia, 1558–1638 (2nd ed., Routledge, 1990).
Peter Leadbetter, The Perfect Militia: The Stuart Trained Bands of England and Wales 1603–1642 (Helion, 2021)
Page last Updated 22.07.26