This charming image of English archers being taught to shoot at a target is at the foot of one of the pages of the Luttrell Psalter and dates to 1320-1330.

An order issued by King Edward III in 1363 required every man between 15 and 60 years old, on feast-days and in leisure time, to practice archery or risk imprisonment if they pursued other pastimes such as football.  As late as the reign of King Henry VIII, fathers and guardians were obliged to give their male charges of 7 – 17 years of age a bow and two shafts.

The benefits of such diligent training were clearly demonstrated in the successes of the English archers in the battles against the French at Crécy in 1346 and at Agincourt in 1415.

Image reproduced by kind permission of the British Library: https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=60690

Ref: Additional 42130 f.147v

Those wanting to become a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers must first apply for and be admitted to the Freedom of the City of London.

The Declaration of a Freeman is as follows: “I {names in full} do solemnly declare that I will be good and true to our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second; that I will be obedient to the Mayor of this City; that I will maintain the Franchises and Customs thereof, and will keep this City harmless, in that which in me is; that I will also keep the Queen’s Peace in my own person; that I will know no Gatherings or Conspiracies made against the Queen’s Peace, but I will warn the Mayor thereof, or hinder it to my power; and that all these points and articles I will well and truly keep, according to the Laws and Customs of this City, to my power.”

The pictures above show the earliest known admission of a Fletcher to the Freedom of the City of London in 1313.

Image reproduced by kind permission of the London Metropolitan Archives, City of London, reference COL/AD/01/004, f. 24v.

The Fletchers have been meeting for archery days at Noak Hill in Essex twice a year since 2008.  After few practice rounds, a fun competition is held.  This starts with target shooting followed by field archery in the afternoon, pitting the archers against strategically placed animal targets which makes for a very interesting afternoon in Noak Hill Archers’ extensive woodlands.  Expert tuition from Dennis Oates and his team and a handicap system mean that all participants are in with a chance of winning, whether novices or experienced archers.  The fabulous buffet lunch and afternoon tea keep everyone fortified throughout the day.

From 1767 to 1808 the quarterly Court meetings of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers were held at the George and Vulture Tavern, tucked away in Castle Court just off Cornhill in the City of London.    The Fletchers’ own Hall at St. Mary Axe in the City was let out from 1747, eventually being sold in 1933.  Since 1987 the Fletchers have occupied a shared hall with the Worshipful Company of Farmers at Cloth Street.

The Worshipful Company of Fletchers rented a Hall in St Mary Axe from Holy Trinity Priory from at least the beginning of the sixteenth century.  Following the Priory’s dissolution in 1531, the Company appears to have purchased the freehold of the Hall from the Crown’s successor in title Sir William Pykerynge sometime prior to 1547/47.

The Hall was leased out from 1747 and the Fletchers met elsewhere (eg the George and Vulture Tavern).  In 1863 a lease was concluded whereby the lessee would demolish the existing Hall and replace it with ‘a substantial warehouse of five stories’.  In 1895, following two serious fires gutting the property in the early 1890s, another Hall was built, under the supervision of the Company but for use by subsequent lessees and under-lessees as offices.

The Company finally sold the freehold of the Hall and its site in 1933.  The front wall of the property still remains on the eastern side of St Mary Axe, with the Company arms in stone mounted high on the pediment of the façade as shown above.

From ‘The Fletchers’ Company of London 1969 – 2010’ by Michael Roberts MA MCLIP, Honorary Archivist to the Company

Archers continued to be a vital part of the army in the 16^th Century.  Over 3,500 arrows were recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s flagship which sunk in the Solent on 19 July 1545.  The top image shows the arrows recovered from the wreck – although both the arrow heads and the feathers have deteriorated away, the marks from the binding of the feathers to the shafts are still visible.  The bottom image shows how the arrows would have originally looked, with goose- or swan-feather flights.  The majority of the arrows from the Mary Rose were of poplar.

Image reproduced with the kind permission of the Mary Rose Trust.

The Fletchers have been closely associated with 1921 (Lewisham) Squadron of the Air Training Corps since early 2008.  Liverymen regularly attend many of the squadron’s events and, since 2014, the Master Fletcher has made an award of a silver prize arrow to the cadet who has best displayed the virtues of the Fletchers’ motto “True and Sure” throughout the year.  The cadets regularly support Fletchers’ events by providing formal carpet guards for livery dinners.  In 2012 they marched with the Company in The Lord Mayor’s parade when Past Master Fletcher Sir David Wotton was elected Lord Mayor.

1921 (Lewisham) Squadron is very active and regularly excels in London ATC Wing competitions.  They have an excellent record for bringing on their youngsters and achieving promotions to the highest cadet ranks by the age of 18.  Lewisham is the only squadron in the country in the past 10 years to have had three cadets awarded flying scholarships in a single year.

In recognition of this longstanding friendship and cooperation, in December 2016 the Fletchers and 1921 Squadron became formally affiliated, marked by an exchange of illuminated manuscripts, as shown in the photo above.

At a meeting on 29 November 1945, the Court discussed the question of admitting distinguished persons to the Freedom and Livery of the Company by Gift.  The Court unanimously decided to offer Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery (1^st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC, DL) the Freedom and Livery of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers ‘as a token of this Company’s appreciation of the magnificent services to this Country rendered by all Members of His Majesty’s Army’.  He received the Honorary Freedom of the Company on 12 July 1946.  At the lunch after the ceremony, he very kindly donated the first £100 to help youth charities, particularly smaller ones, which depended on voluntary help.  On 30 October 1946, an evening with music for members and their ladies was held to give them the opportunity to meet the Field Marshal.  The photo is of Field Marshal Montgomery’s Freeman’s Oath; all Fletchers have to swear this oath on joining the Livery.

Reproduced by kind permission of the London Metropolitan Archives

Fletchers often wear a lapel pin in the shape of the Fletchers’ shield to show that they are members of the livery, or they give them to their partners as a gift.  Some of the Fletchers have even made them into cuff links to wear at events, as well.

The proposal that incoming Masters of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers should sign a declaration was made in 1938.  Masters only began doing this from 1945, after a book was presented by Mr Vining on 11 May 1943.  The declaration states that the Master will execute the office justly, faithfully, and diligently.  The first such declaration was signed by Frederick John Monkhouse Esquire on 18^th July 1945.

Roger Ascham, 1500s archery expert and author of ‘Toxophilus: The Schole or Partitions of Shootinge’, had the following opinion on arrowheads: ‘Our English heads be better in war than either forked heads or broad arrowheads.  For first, the end being lighter, they fly a great deal the faster, and, by the same reason, giveth a far sorer stripe [hit or wound].’  By the time that Toxophilus was published, recreational archery was becoming far more popular, so Ascham went on to describe the different types of arrowhead available for that purpose: sharp or blunt-pointed and sometimes with a ridge so that the archer could tell that the arrow had been drawn fully.

The arrowhead in the picture is European and dates to 1400-1499.

Image reproduced by kind permission of the Royal Armouries.

Bernard Joseph “Joe” Brown CBE, JP, FRICS had a long and distinguished career of public service, including his role as High Sheriff of the City of London 1977-78.  He was Master of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers in 1986-87.  He was awarded the CBE in the 1982 New Years’ Honours.  Mr Brown’s shrieval badge and armorial bearings are displayed at Farmers’ and Fletchers’ Hall as shown above.

The armorial bearings are mounted on a model of Alders Gate, a northern entrance gate to the City of London in the Ward which Mr Brown represented.  Inscribed on the two columns are the badges of the Royal Artillery & Combined Operations in which Mr Brown served 1939 – 46, the Round Table and the United Wards Club of the City of London of which he was a member.

The helmet on the armorial bearings denotes an Esquire.  Above this is the Barbican Tower on the Roman wall which was visible from Mr Brown’s residence in the Barbican.  Coming out of the Tower on the left-hand side is the Shrieval Fist grasping a bundle of Fletchers’ arrows (five arrows for five children).  Surmounting the Tower is a jay for Mr Brown’s familiar name of Joe.  Also above the helmet is a wreath indicating the National Colours, and above that foliage for Mr Brown’s country home.

Below the helmet is the shield.  This contains three lesser shields each having a Saxon cross taken from the arms of the Greater London Council, and a seaxe, a Saxon sword taken from the Middlesex arms.  The chevron is from the Fletchers’ Company coat of arms with at the apex the fasces (a bound bundle of sticks with hatchet denoting a Magistrate).  St Paul’s sword (the City of London arms) is shown on both sides of the chevron.  The wavy blue lines across the shield indicate Mr Brown’s membership of the Thames Water Authority and the River Thames Advisory Committee of the London Tourist Board.

Prize arrows made by Honorary Liveryman, Lindsay Head and her husband and Liverymen of the Bowyers’ Company, Richard, are put on display at Fletchers’ dinners, and are also given to various worthy recipients.

The arrow in the picture – which measures nine inches overall – is made from poplar, a wood commonly used for arrows in the Medieval period. The shaft ‘bobtails’ i.e.: it tapers from the head to the nock end, a profile common in war arrows.

A slot is cut in the nock end and the makers glue in a horn insert to strengthen it, a method used on the arrows recovered from the Mary Rose.

The arrow is fletched with the brown wing feathers from a peacock as these are very strong.  After gluing them to the shaft they are bound on with red silk – this was intended to stop the feathers coming off in wet weather as the glues in the Medieval period were not waterproof.

The arrowhead is made to a Medieval pattern in solid silver.  The whole arrow is then supported off the yew base by two brass rods to give the impression that the arrow is flying through the air.

(excerpts from an article by Lindsay Head, La Fleche issue 47b January 2017)

The Worshipful Company of Fletchers’ coat of arms is ‘sable, a chevron gold, thee broad arrows of the same, garnished silver’.  The crest shows an ‘angel proper’ on a wreath of gold and sable.  She holds in both hands a bundle of arrows.

The Fletchers’ motto – adopted on 25 November 1872 – is ‘True and Sure’ which refers to the requirement of an arrow to bend round the bow when loosed and fly straight almost immediately so that the arrow hits its target.

The Worshipful Company of Fletchers received its Grant of Arms on 12 October 1467 – see 49 for further information.  The crest was granted in 1486.

In the process of petitioning for a Royal Charter in 2020 it was discovered that the Supporters that appeared on the Arms that were in current use had never been approved by the College of Arms. If the Arms including the Supporters were to feature on the Royal Charter, assuming it be granted, it would be necessary that the Arms including the Supporters be approved by the College of Arms.  An application to the College was duly made, and on the 10^th June 2020 the use of the Supporters approved.  The College suggested that wording to the following effect should appear on the Royal Charter:

“That by Letters Patent under the hand and Seal of Clarenceux King of Arms bearing date the Twelfth day of October 1467 certain Arms were appointed given and granted to The Master and Wardens of the Mystery and Craft of Fletchers of the City of London That a Crest was granted to the said Company by Clarenceux King of Arms in the second year of the reign of King Henry VII That the said Arms and Crest were viewed ratified and approved by Sir Henry St George Richmond Herald in 1634 That the said Company is now known as The Worshipful Company of Fletchers That certain Supporters were granted unto the said Company under the hand and Seal of Garter King of Arms bearing date the Tenth day of June 2020”.  The new, approved Supporters and Coat of Arms are shown below.

Until modern times, arrows were fletched with feathers.  Due to preparations for the ongoing conflict with France, feather-collecting orders were made twice in the 1400s, in early 1417 and July 1426, along with the need  to obtain wax, silk and timber for arrow production.

Roger Ascham had a great deal to say about feathers in his book Toxophilus, published in 1544.  Feathers were the only suitable material for fletching, and as far as he was concerned, only goose feathers were remotely suited to the task, because: ‘The goose is man’s comfort in war and in peace….’.