Venue

Face to face with history. We are home to the UK’s national collection of arms and armour.

At our museum in Leeds there are over 8,500 objects on display in five galleries: War, Tournament, Oriental, Self-defence, and Hunting.

General Collection

The shell of Appuldurcombe, once the grandest house on the Isle of Wight and still an important example of English baroque Architecture stands in 'Capability' Brown-designed grounds.

An exhibition of photographs and prints depict the house and its history.

You can also visit the Freemantle Gate (part of the 1770s neo-Classical addition to the estate) on the nearby public footpath, and the adjacent falconry centre (not under the care of English Heritage - extra charges apply).

With a history that spans 350 years, the defences of the Garrison on St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, form one of the most remarkable and impressive coastal defence systems in England.

You can enjoy a two-hour walk alongside the ramparts of these defensive walls and earthworks, dating from the 16th to 18th centuries.

Other remains include Elizabethan Star Castle and defences from both World Wars.

Yarmouth Castle, Isle of Wight provides a magnificent picnic spot, with views over the Solent for a lovely relaxing family day by the sea. Step inside and discover the atmospheric recreation of how the rooms were used in the 16th century, and see the exhibition about the many wrecks which occurred in the treacherous stretch of sea which the castle overlooks.

This was the last and most sophisticated addition to Henry VIII's coastal defences; it was completed after his death in 1547, with the first new-style 'arrowhead' artillery bastion built in England.