Consisting of almost 14,000 working small arms – the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Pattern Room collection features a huge variety of guns from pistols and concealed firearms, to fascinating prototype weapons.
Now housed at the Royal Armouries in Leeds as part of the National Firearms Centre, the collection will not be open to members of the general public, but will continue to be used by firearms experts involved in forensic investigation and small arms research.
“We are very grateful to the Ministry of Defence for agreeing to gift this truly unique collection to the Royal Armouries,” said Paul Evans, Chief Executive of the Royal Armouries. “Like the Royal Armouries, the Sealed Pattern collection originated at the Tower of London, so it is entirely appropriate that these historic weapons should be re-housed here at the Royal Armouries.”
Set up in 1850 to manage quality control in the manufacture of small arms, the collection’s role has since evolved and it now plays a key part in police forensic investigations as well as being used as a reference for weapons research and familiarisation.
“This collection is rightly regarded as the best of its type in the world,” said Roger Colebrook, Project Leader at the MOD, “it is an important national resource as well as being a remarkable historical artefact.”
The acquisition means that Royal Armouries has now become the world’s leading repository of historic and current firearms.
“The Pattern Room is a national treasure,” added Mr Colebrook, “and I am delighted to see that it has been transferred to the Royal Armouries where its long term future as part of the National Firearms Centre is assured.”
The term Pattern Room comes from the 17th century practice of fixing red wax seals (Sealed Patterns) to approved sample weapons to certify their acceptability for service and use as reference patterns in any subsequent manufacture. All the weapons in the collection are under 40mm in calibre and include anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft guns, sniper rifles, pistols and machine guns.
