Armoury in Action experience

Have a go at shooting arrows, brandishing a sword, designing muskets and firing cannons at the Armoury in Action experience in the White Tower. 

This exciting, hands-on experience brings a thousand years of history to life.

The armoury in the White Tower

Hear a Norman master mason tell the story of the White Tower, a fortress built on William the Conqueror's orders that has dominated the London skyline for centuries.

Find out more about weapons, combat skills and soldiers through historic objects, lively animations, film and interactive displays.

An exciting family experience

Hear a medieval longbowman explain the different types of arrows as you draw back your bow, feeling the strength and training required to shoot this powerful weapon.

Find out more about the skill of the armourers at the Tudor court and take special care as you dress Henry VIII for battle. Henry's original, beautifully ornate armour is on display in the Line of Kings, also in the White Tower, some 500 years after it was made. As you will see, the earliest of King Henry's surviving armour was made for him when he was still slim and cut a dashing figure on horseback!

Ready, aim, fire!

Learn how to fire a cannon with an English Civil War artillery captain on a half-sized replica and follow a Napoleonic War training manual while sharpening your sword skills against enemy cabbages.

Finally, design your own musket and choose which technological developments might improve your results at target practice with advice from a Victorian Superintendent of Firearms from the Ordnance Office - where arms are designed and manufactured.

In partnership with the Royal Armouries.