Beyond, in another case, is the uniform worn as Constable of the Tower
by the Great Duke of Wellington from 1826 until his death, in 1852.
Near this is a portion of the wooden pump of the _Mary Rose_, sunk
in action off the Isle of Wight in 1545.
In a case at the end of the room is a mass of fused gun flints, a relic
of the fire which in 1841 destroyed the Great Store in the Tower and
many thousand stand of arms, cannon, &c.
The staircase in the S.W. corner is now ascended leading to the great
upper chamber, generally known as the Council Chamber, 95 feet by 40
feet, and, like the smaller room, 21 feet high. Round this top floor
runs a passage cut in the thickness of the walls, with numerous openings
inwards opposite the windows, and widening somewhat when forming as
it does the triforium of St. John's Chapel. At the entrance are cases
containing velvet-covered brigandines and canvas-covered jacks, garments
which were much used in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as giving
protection by means of numerous small plates of metal disposed between
the thicknesses of the material covering and lining them, and also great
flexibility. In the cases on the right hand are specimens of chain mail
in form of hoods, coats, sleeves, &c, mostly, if not all, of Eastern
origin. Observe also some bronze swords and other very early weapons.
Round the walls of the two rooms are arranged the various staff weapons
used in England and the continent.
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