The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence of the realm and its overseas possessions, and as the supplier of munitions and equipment to both the Army and the Navy'. The Board also maintained and directed the Artillery and Engineer corps, which it founded in the 18th century. By the 19th century, the Board of Ordnance was second in size only to HM Treasury among government departments. The Board lasted until 1855, at which point it was disbanded.
Shield of the Board of Ordnance preserved on a gun tampion in Gibraltar
Lord Vivian in uniform of Master-General of the Ordnance. The two senior officers of the Ordnance wore uniforms as for a general and lieutenant-general respectively, but of blue cloth with scarlet facings (rather than scarlet with blue).
Full coat of arms, with crest and supporters, at the Tower of London
Ammunition box with Board of Ordnance shield, initials and broad arrow.
The King's Wardrobe, together with the Chamber, made up the personal part of medieval English government known as the King's household. Originally the room where the king's clothes, armour, and treasure were stored, the term was expanded to describe both its contents and the department of clerks who ran it. Early in the reign of Henry III the Wardrobe emerged out of the fragmentation of the Curia Regis to become the chief administrative and accounting department of the Household. The Wardrobe received regular block grants from the Exchequer for much of its history; in addition, however, the wardrobe treasure of gold and jewels enabled the king to make secret and rapid payments to fund his diplomatic and military operations, and for a time, in the 13th-14th centuries, it eclipsed the Exchequer as the chief spending department of central government.
Remains of the 12th-century Wardrobe Tower at the Tower of London
The Will of King Eadred, AD 951–955, with bequests to hræglðene (robe-keepers) (15th-century copy, British Library Add MS 82931, ff. 22r–23r)
Wardrobe Place in the City of London, built on the site of the Great Wardrobe
The Jewel Tower housed a branch of the King's Privy Wardrobe at the Palace of Westminster