Security and Finances at Athelhampton House & Gardens

16th Century English money was solid, heavy, and made from precious metals. While the history of lightweight money in the form of promissory notes dates back to nearly 150BC in Carthage, by Tudor times money was made of (mostly) gold and silver. Some coins, like the gold sovereign, looked like a modern day chocolate coin in terms of colour and size!

Gold Sovereign, or £1, from the time of Elizabeth I

At this time, the Martyn family of Athelhampton had huge amounts of wealth, and this needed to be stored somewhere. Banks existed since Medieval times, with the Knights Templar accepting deposits of money from pilgrims to the Holy Land, so that they could avoid being targeted by robbers while still being able to withdraw their money along the route. Through the Renaissance, banks were common in Italy and the Holy Roman Empire, but not so much in England. The first central bank wasn't established until 1668 in Sweden, and the Bank of England wasn't established until 1694. So how were the Martyns to deal with their security and finances at Athelhampton House & Gardens?

Sealing of the Bank of England Charter in 1694, drawn in 1905

In Christopher Martyn's will of 1524, one daughter receives 2000 marks, while a granddaughter received another 1000 marks. Tudor money wasn't decimalised, which makes calculations slightly more complicated.

1 penny and tuppence are obvious

1 groat = 4 pence

Sixpence again is clear

1 shilling = 12 pence

1 angel = 10 shillings, or 120 pennies

£1 = 20 shillings, or 240 pennies

1 mark wasn't a coin, it was simply a unit of account, used when dealing with large sums of money. It was equivalent to 2/3 of a pound, 160 pence, or 13 shillings and 4 pence.

So, in his will, Christopher Martyn was giving what amounts to £2000 to these two women. The value of coins was in the weight of the metal in them - except for times when the currency was debased, a penny was worth its own weight in silver. So, £2000 in silver would have weighed more than 230kg, and £2000 in gold would have weighed over 20kg. And that's without taking into account all of the other money bequeathed!

An Angel, of the time of Henry VIII

The best place to keep all of this money that the Martyn family of Athelhampton made from customs and sheep farming, would have been in a coffer or strong box. From the end of the 16th century, metal strong boxes with incredibly complex locks were being crafted in Flanders and Germany, especially in Nuremberg.

Engraving of a 16th century strong box with a complex locking mechanism inside the lid

These chests were incredibly distinctive: they were made entirely from wrought iron, strengthened with interlaced bands of wrought iron, and often painted in bright colours. And we have one such chest in the Solar at Athelhampton!

False lock on the Armada Chest in the Solar at Athelhampton

It still retains its bright paintwork to this day. On the front side of it is a huge, elaborate lock plate. This is delightfully misleading: it's completely fake, and as you can see in the picture, there's no keyhole there at all.

Padlock on the Armada Chest in the Solar at Athelhampton

In reality, the chest relies on two huge padlocks for its security, along with a hidden lock. The purposeful, undecorated padlocks contrast starkly with the painted floral patterns covering the chest, while the hidden lock is beautifully disguised inside the lid.

The hidden lock is in the lid, and is the most important - when it's secured, it shoots 12 bolts out from the lid into the sides of the box, making it impossible to open. This is a key characteristic of these wrought iron strong boxes that became known as "Armada Chests."

Hidden lock on the Armada Chest in the Solar at Athelhampton

In Victorian times, chests like this earned the title "Armada Chests" thanks to the romantic notion that they were created to hold bullion to finance the Spanish Armada, and were then washed up on English beaches from the wrecked ships.

In reality, the majority of these chests were made at a later date than 1588: they continued to be created in southern Germany through into the last quarter of the 18th century, and were exported all over Europe. They varied hugely in size, from a few inches to several feet.

Miniature landscape painted on the Armada Chest in the Solar at Athelhampton

In amongst its floral designs, the Armada Chest at Athelhampton has tiny landscape paintings - little windows into a world that no longer exists. This forerunner of the modern, commercial steel safe would have been approved of by William Morris, being both beautiful and useful,

Miniature landscape painted on the Armada Chest in the Solar at Athelhampton

If you want to see this work of art for yourself, you can visit Athelhampton all year round, any day of the week, save for a few days over Christmas. The Armada Chest stands in our Solar, also known as the King's Room, one of the earliest rooms to be built at Athelhampton.

Miniature landscape painted on the Armada Chest in the Solar at Athelhampton