British Swords

Collecting British swords has been a pastime followed in the UK for hundreds of years. A cursory visit to almost any stately home of castle will reveal at the very least a display of family owned arms and armour and in some cases such as Belvoir Castle in Rutland a vast array of swords charting the history of the area and family connections with the defence of the realm.

Prior to around 1788 there were no formalised patterns of swords as in most cases regiments and militia were equipped by the founding colonel. Having said that from the time of the Civil War examples of Mortuary Swords, Backswords, Broadswords and Rapiers have reflected design trends influenced both by in England and Scotland as well as the Continent. There are still fine examples of hangers of a range of styles manufactured to arm local militia and volunteer regiments.

From 1788 heavy and light cavalry swords each adopted a universal pattern and Major General John Gaspard Le Marchant (1766-1812) is credited with designing one of the most collectable cavalry sabres the 1796 light cavalry sword. The 1796 heavy cavalry troopers sabre, recently made famous by the 'Sharpe' series was in fact originally based on the design of the Austrian 1767/75 pattern. Cavalry sabres followed this pattern until revisions in 1821, followed by a further revision in 1853 when a sabre was issued to both light and heavy cavalry. This sword was popularly believed to have been used in the Charge of the Light Brigade though the likelihood is that many units were still equipped with the earlier 1821 pattern. Developments continued with the 1885 and 1890 patterns ending with the famous bowl guarded, straight blade of the 1908 pattern used in the last cavalry charges of the British Army.

For infantry there were also a range of patterns including the 1796 infantry officer's sword which was styled rather more like an epee and the 1822 pattern with a brass hilt and folding counter guard, to the 1845 pattern which was almost identical without the folding guard. As with all these swords there were many individual variations reflecting both the fashion of the time and the personal taste of officers. Many portraits of senior officers during the Napoleonic Wars depict them with Mameluke hilted sabres which became for some the fashion accessory of the day.

In England until the middle of the 19th century swords were privately produced. There was great competition between manufacturers and retailers leading to the Board of Ordnance asking for trials of blades. Manufacturers/retailers still in strong evidence among collections today include; Runkell. Osborn, Prosser, Craven, Woolley, Deakin, Reddell and Bate and Gill. During the latter part of the 19th century names such as Wilkinson and Mole became more famous along with the national production taking place at Enfield. There are still excellent opportunities to collect a wide range of fine swords carried by officers and other ranks throughout the last 250 years.

Further information can be found at: www.michaeldlong.com & at www.michaeldlong.com/britishswords