posted 03-03-2000 04:01 PM
The room where weapons are kept is called the armoury (or armory in american english). I can think off any medieval castles that had a specific armoury. However many castles had rooms for storing all sorts of things, including weapons and armour. I'm not really sure how things would be stored. I imagine bows and pikes were best stored where they didn't dry out and warp and iron weapons and armour were best kept as dry as possible to reduce rusting. However, in practice, I imagine things were stored where there was space. I very much doubt they were stored on nice wooden racks in special rooms. My guess is things were stored in barrels, propped up against the wall or dumped on the floor in cellars and corners of other rooms. Things like pikes, bows and, particularly, arrows could be stored in large quantities in case of need but really each man liable to service was meant to provide his own weapons and armour, which he would keep in his own home.Of course, expensive suit of mail or plate and good swords would have been looked after with more care, but since these are so expensive I imagine that they actually stayed in the lords private rooms, possibly in good solid oak chests.
The idea of special rooms for various things is not really a medieval one. Most medieval rooms had several functions. Halls were for meetings and dining and often for sleeping for servants. Bedchambers were also sitting rooms and bathrooms (if you brought in a bathtub). Toilets were also where you hung your clothes. Even chapels sometimes doubled up as the place where the portcullis was worked from. Storage rooms could be used for storing all sorts of things, including weapons and prisoners (Though not at the same time).
I could provide a floorplans of various cellars but basically these are thick walled rooms, usually rectangular, sometimes circular, with a door and small slit windows high up in the walls. There is nothing special about them.
In the post medieval period, when the state became more centralised and stronger, people were no longer expected to own weapons and castles then often became places to store the weapons and armour of the militia. But again these weapons were stored where convienant. In Dover castle the great central keep was used, not just the lower cellars but also the great hall and bedchamber (these no longer being in use). Weapons, like muskets, which need particular care may have been stored in wooden racks. The White Tower of the Tower of London http://www.hrp.org.uk/tol/indextol.htm still holds part of the royal collection of armour as part of the Royal Armouries http://www.armouries.org.uk/
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[This message has been edited by Philip Davis (edited 03-03-2000).]
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