Flintlock musket
Category
Arms and armour
Date
circa 1670 - circa 1680
Materials
iron, wood, paint
Measurements
1350 mm (Length)
Order this imageCollection
Chirk Castle, Wrexham
NT 1170503.30
Summary
Gun. Flintlock musket. One of a collection of thrity eight English flintlock muskets, circa 1670.
Full description
The thirty-eight muskets at Chirk are of great importance and as so few have survived, they are an almost unique record of English military muskets from the mid-17th century. The muskets are all flintlocks, with a mechanism of a type that was only produced in England and not used after about 1680. They are the largest known surviving group of their kind. The majority of the muskets date to the period 1660 – 1680, although two muskets are from an earlier period, one from the 1620s, the other from the 1640s, the time of the English Civil War. The Castle account books record that Richard Myddelton purchased the muskets in about 1679 from London, in order to decorate the Cromwell Hall, as a celebration of his family's involvement in the Civil War. The records show that the muskets were not in pristine condition and required considerable repair, with some needing new stocks and other components to be replaced. This, together with their relatively low purchase price, confirms that the muskets were old or obsolete when they were bought. Certainly by 1685, a newer form of flintlock, which was cheaper and easier to produce, was soon replacing all other forms of the mechanism in England, including those for military firearms. Two muskets, dating from the 1660s, are exceptionally large and are considered to be "wall or rampart guns". They appear to be among the earliest surviving English guns of this type. A military flintlock musket, English, c1670. The barrel and the overall style of the lock indicate that they date to an earlier period. Iron barrel, formed in 3 stages, octagonal at the breech, becoming 16 sided, then round to the muzzle, each stage separated by a turned moulding. The breech stamped with London Gunmakers Company proof marks. Bead foresight. Retained to the stock by 3 barrel pins (missing). The rear part of barrel tang and screw missing. A solder line on the right side of the breech indicates that the barrel was previously used as a matchlock. The ramrod missing. Barrel length: 96cm Calibre: 18mm. Wooden full stock, the butt stamped on the right side with the ownership initials RM, and carved behind the barrel tang to represent a “corn-husk”. Iron furniture comprising; quarter-size butt plate, 2 ramrod pipes (forward pipe missing) and trigger guard (missing but decorative rear tang finial present). English Lock (Type 2) flintlock with a flat, lozenge-shaped lockplate, stepped at the rear and having a long tail finial. Flat, broad cock with reinforced ring neck with decorative filing and a decorative comb, the rear of the cock with a V-shaped cut for the dogcatch. The top jaw screw is ring shaped. The flash-pan is V-shaped. The frizzen and its spring are missing. Retained to the stock by 3 sidenails (centre screw missing). Overall length:135.5cm Brian Godwin, “The Chirk Castle Firelocks”, Canadian Arms Collecting Journal, Bloomfield, Canada, Vol.36, No.3, 1998. Brian Godwin, John Cooper & Michael Spencer, “The English Flintlock: Its Origins and Development”, 20th Park Lane Arms Fair catalogue, London 2003. Brian Godwin, “The Chirk Castle Firelocks – A Revisit”, Journal of the Arms & Armour Society, London, Vol.XVIII, No.6, September 2006. Brian Godwin, “English Firearms from the late 1500s to the English Civil Wars”, Royal Armouries Journal, Vol.10, No.1, Spring 2013, pp.51–70.
Provenance
Amongst the chattels that, in 1978, were acquired along with Chirk Castle from Lt-Col Ririd Myddelton (1902–1988) by the National Land Fund and handed, on loan for 99 years, to the Secretary of State for Wales. In 1981 Chirk was transferred into the ownership of the National Trust.
Marks and inscriptions
RM (branded)