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74-504: There were in fact two main Wardrobes for much of this period: around 1300 the confusingly named Great Wardrobe , responsible only for expenditure on such things as clothing, textiles, furs and spices, split away from the more senior Wardrobe, which remained responsible for financing the king's personal expenditure and his military operations. In addition there were smaller Privy Wardrobes at various royal palaces; most of these provided items for

148-526: A chamber (Latin camera ), alongside which a secure room or wardrobe ( garderoba ) would be provided for storage of clothes and other valuables. In the royal household, the Chamber came to represent the king's nearest advisers. Before long the Wardrobe emerged, under the auspices of the Chamber, to become an administrative body in its own right, providing secure storage for the robes, treasures, archives and armaments of

222-463: A deliberate choice, in order to imply the continuity of government. A new obverse was created, but the reverse was crudely adapted by inserting a female figure beside the male figure. When Mary died, the obverse returned to the design used by James II, while the female figure was deleted from the reverse. Thus, William III used a seal that was identical to James II's, except for changes to the legend and coat of arms. Edward VIII , who abdicated only

296-561: A few months after succeeding to the throne, never selected a design for his own seal and continued to use that of his predecessor, George V . Only one matrix of the Great Seal exists at a time, and since the wax used for the Great Seal has a high melting point , the silver plates that cast the seal eventually wear out. The longer-lived British monarchs have had several Great Seals during their reigns, and Queen Victoria had to select four different Great Seal designs during her sixty-three years on

370-523: A key person of influence within the Household. By the reign of Richard II , the Chamber had re-established its seniority within the Household, and the Wardrobe then 'ceased to be the directive force of the household, remaining simply as the office of household accounts'. Rather than being a separate department, the Wardrobe and its officers now came under the authority of the Steward , and before long, even within

444-512: A key stage in the development of the Privy Wardrobe there into a repository and manufactory of arms, armour and artillery. No further appointments were made to this office after 1476. Civil List and Secret Service Money Act 1782 The Civil List and Secret Service Money Act 1782 ( 22 Geo. 3 . c. 82) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain . The power over the expenditure in

518-568: A more immediate source of funds than the fixed Exchequer. The Wardrobe first rivalled, and then eclipsed the Chamber in terms of power within the Court and in relation to the governance of the realm. Thus we see, early in the reign of Henry III , the office of Treasurer of the Chamber annexed to (and taken over by) that of Keeper of the Wardrobe . At around the same time the Keeper's deputy (the Controller of

592-558: A new identity, and rose in prominence and power, becoming the main official repository and provider of arms, armour and ordnance in the Kingdom of England. By the 14th century, the Tower of London had become well established as a convenient and safe place for storage of arms and armour, jewels and plate; so when the Great Wardrobe departed these items stayed put. Arms had been manufactured within

666-581: A salary of £200 (fixed in 1674), reduced to £150 in 1761. The post seems to have developed into a sinecure, and by 1765, the office of Assistant to the Deputy Master had become established. The post was abolished with the other offices of the Great Wardrobe in 1782. In July 1323, John Fleet was appointed 'Keeper of the part of the King's Wardrobe in the Tower of London'. This, apparently the first such appointment, marked

740-482: A small organisation headed by a Clerk, within the main Wardrobe, which would travel with the Court and furnish the king with these and other personal items. The itinerant Privy Wardrobe continued to operate and to provide for the King on his travels, even when the Court as a whole had ceased to be mobile (it was later known as the Removing Wardrobe ). The central Privy Wardrobe at the Tower of London, however, took on

814-482: A specialised role as 'buyer' or 'purveyor' within the King's Wardrobe, and keeping their own accounts. Often the King's tailor had this task (which involved purchase of silk, cloth, furs and the like for robes). A Household Ordinance of 1279 formalised the arrangement, ordaining that the Treasurer (Keeper) of the Wardrobe should appoint a man to buy all items appertaining to the Great Wardrobe, "and let this man be Keeper of

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888-535: A subsidiary arm of the Exchequer. (Likewise at times of war it remained an important source of funds but operated under the authority of the Exchequer, in contrast to earlier times when it had functioned as a largely independent 'war treasury'; the Battle of Crécy and its aftermath was the last period of military campaigning for which the Wardrobe itself provided significant funds.) With the Wardrobe under increasing scrutiny,

962-462: Is authorised to make use of the Great Seal for sealing all things whatsoever that pass the Great Seal until another Great Seal be prepared and authorised by His Majesty". The Great Seal is attached to the official documents of state that require the authorisation of the monarch to implement the advice of His Majesty's Government . Under today's usage of the Great Seal, seals of dark green wax are affixed to letters patent elevating individuals to

1036-698: Is responsible for the affixing of the Great Seal. They are assisted by the Deputy Clerk of the Crown. Day-to-day custody is entrusted to the Clerk of the Chamber , and subordinate staff include a Sealer and two Scribes to His Majesty's Crown Office. Section 2 of the Great Seal Act 1884 ( 47 & 48 Vict. c. 30) governs the use of the Great Seal of the Realm: (1) A warrant under Her Majesty's Royal Sign Manual, countersigned by

1110-669: The Treaty of Union of 1707 as the Great Seal of England ; and from then until the Union of 1801 as the Great Seal of Great Britain ). To make it, sealing wax is melted in a metal mould or matrix and impressed into a wax figure that is attached by cord or ribbon to documents that the monarch wishes to seal officially. The formal keeper of the seal is the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain . Scotland has had its own great seal since

1184-494: The peerage , blue seals authorise actions relating to the royal family , and scarlet seals appoint bishops and implement various other affairs of state. In some cases the seal is replaced by a wafer version, a smaller representation of the obverse of the Great Seal embossed on coloured paper attached to the document being sealed. This simpler version is used for royal proclamations, letters patent granting royal assent to legislation, writs of summons to Parliament, licences for

1258-546: The 1230s. The Controller also had charge of the Wardrobe's archive of state documents, which gave his office a distinctively secretarial flavour. Under Edward I the Controller was custodian of the Privy Seal and functioned as the King's private secretary; meanwhile his small department of clerks played a key part in the administrative oversight of the entire Household. By the end of the reign of Edward III this important court official

1332-580: The 13th century, continued in use after the union of 1801, until the secession of the Irish Free State, after which a new Great Seal of Northern Ireland was created for use in Northern Ireland. A new Welsh Seal was introduced in 2011. At some time before the year 1066 Edward the Confessor began to use a "Great Seal", which created a casting in wax of his own face, to signify that a document carried

1406-505: The 14th century. The Acts of Union 1707 , joining the kingdoms of Scotland and England, provided for the use of a single Great Seal for the new Kingdom of Great Britain . However, it also provided for the continued use of a separate Scottish seal to be used there, and this seal continues to be called the Great Seal of Scotland , although it is not technically one. Similarly, a separate Great Seal of Ireland , which had been used in Ireland since

1480-598: The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. The Great Seal for each successive monarch is inscribed with the monarch's style (in Latin ) on both sides of the seal. Some of those used in the past are shown below. Where the inscriptions on both sides of the seal are identical, only one is given. Where they are the same except for the use of abbreviations, the one with the fuller forms is given. Where they are different, they are shown separated by

1554-499: The Cofferer came to be seen as, in effect, the working head of the Wardrobe, acting on the Treasurer's behalf. In his own right he oversaw a small accounting office, staffed by the 'clerks of the Cofferer', who went on to play a key role in the financial oversight of the Household; this was a precursor to the Board of Green Cloth ). As early as the 1220s certain persons are identified as having

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1628-594: The Court of Exchequer in England, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. In 1688, while attempting to flee to France during the Glorious Revolution , James II allegedly attempted to destroy his Great Seal by throwing it into the River Thames , in the hope that the machinery of government would cease to function. James's successors, William III and Mary II , used the same seal matrix in their new Great Seal. This may have been

1702-417: The Exchequer alone was to receive taxes and other state revenue. Later, under Edward III , any ongoing conflicts over the confusion of authority between the wardrobe and the exchequer were finally resolved when William Edington , Treasurer in the mid-fourteenth century, effected a number of reforms which brought the Wardrobe firmly under the financial oversight of the Exchequer. It was around this time that

1776-580: The Exchequer rather than the royal household). It was superseded in the mid-15th century by the Office of Armoury and the Office of Ordnance (both also based at the Tower), whereupon the Privy Wardrobe's funding ceased and it largely faded from influence (though it continued to have a nominal role until the latter part of the same century). Other members of the Royal Family had their own separate wardrobes, which (like

1850-523: The Great Wardrobe ". By the 16th century the department had gained a great deal of independence, and its keeper began to be styled Master of the Great Wardrobe . The post was abolished with the other offices of the Great Wardrobe in 1782. The Deputy Master of the Great Wardrobe was a position in the British Royal Household, the chief subordinate to the Master of the Great Wardrobe. Holders enjoyed

1924-409: The Great Wardrobe may be considered to have become less a part of the King's Household and more "a small, self-contained government office". Mention is made of a Privy Wardrobe ( parva garderoba ) from the 1220s onwards. To begin with, the phrase appears to indicate a room (or type of room) used to store the King's robes, armour and arms. By the end of the 13th century, the same phrase clearly refers to

1998-547: The Household who are also members of the Government. A vestige of the Wardrobe's former significance is seen in the 15th century, when in time of conflict the Treasurer of the Household was also frequently appointed 'Treasurer of Wars'. In the course of the 13th century a distinct organisation began to be identified within the Wardrobe: it came to be known (rather confusingly) as the Great Wardrobe (the word 'Great' referring perhaps to

2072-562: The Household, the Wardrobe began to lose its separate identity: by the late 14th century, its senior officers were more often than not referred to as the Treasurer of the Household , Controller of the Household and Cofferer of the Household (rather than as "Treasurer/Controller/Cofferer of the Household Wardrobe"). Despite this gradual demise of the Wardrobe, these three officers remained (and two of them still remain) as senior officers of

2146-416: The King began to look to the erstwhile-dormant Chamber as providing a more effective structure for overseeing his personal administration and finances. It is there that the beginnings of a privy purse are seen under Edward II, alongside a 'secret seal' which the King now used for personal correspondence in place of the Privy Seal; and under Edward II and Edward III the chief Chamberlain began to re-emerge as

2220-481: The King was due to stay in a place for any length of time (or, indeed, if he was engaged on a military campaign at home or abroad) it remained necessary for many of the Great Wardrobe's items to be transported with him in long convoys of wagons (described in the wardrobe accounts as " caravans "). By the fourteenth century the Great Wardrobe had branched into manufacturing (in addition to its duties of purchase, storage and distribution of non-perishable goods) and numbered

2294-465: The King's Tailor, Armourer, Pavilioner and Confectioner among its officials. Nevertheless, it still remained in essence a sub-department of the Household Wardrobe up until 1324, whereupon it gained significant autonomy by being made accountable to the Exchequer rather than to the Wardrobe of the Household. It also began to travel less with the King's Court, and, significantly, began to put down roots outside

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2368-442: The King's Wardrobe) were departments staffed by clerks. The first known Queen's Wardrobe was that of Eleanor of Provence (consort of Henry III ); her Wardrobe had a high degree of autonomy, and accounted directly to the Exchequer; later Queens' Wardrobes were more likely to be subsidiary departments of the King's Wardrobe. A Prince's Wardrobe was established for Edward of Caernarfon (the future Edward II ) and for other children of

2442-462: The King's household was transferred to the Treasury , and branches of which were regulated. No pension over £300 was to be granted if the total pension list amounted to over £90,000. Thereafter, no pension was to be above £1,300 unless it was granted to members of the royal family or granted by Parliament. Secret service money employed domestically was similarly limited. A section of the act also abolished

2516-488: The King, and was responsible for keeping a daily account of all transactions of the Household. The primary responsibility of the Controller of the Wardrobe was to check and control the Keeper/Treasurer's expenditure by keeping a counter roll of the Wardrobe accounts; he went on to have responsibility for checking financial compliance and quality control across various departments of the Household. The office dates from

2590-583: The Kingdom received their instructions, as did both the Exchequer and the Chancery (the two main offices of State outside the Household); those serving in the armed forces were paid through the Wardrobe accounts. The Keeper or Treasurer of the Wardrobe was considered (alongside the Steward ) to be one of the two chief officers of the Household at this time. The Wardrobe was still at this point an itinerant operation, but it did maintain two permanent 'Treasuries': one in

2664-590: The Lord Chancellor continues to be the custodian of the Great Seal. Though, in the past, the Great Seal has been delivered to and remained in the custody of the Sovereign when it has been used to seal instruments that related to or granted gifts or emoluments to the Lord Chancellor. The Clerk of the Crown in Chancery , who is also Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice , heads His Majesty's Crown Office , and

2738-574: The Lord Chancellor, or by one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, or by the Lord High Treasurer, or two of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, shall be a necessary and sufficient authority for passing any instrument under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, according to the tenor of such warrant; Provided that any instrument which may now be passed under the Great Seal by

2812-546: The Privy Seal, no longer functioned solely as the personal seal of the King, but began to serve as a second, and somewhat less formal, State seal alongside the Great Seal of the Realm . (The fact that the Privy Seal invariably travelled with the King and his Court often made it quicker and easier to use than the Great Seal, which remained in the custody of the Chancellor ). It was by letters authenticated by this seal that officials across

2886-480: The Royal Family, each with their own keeper. A 16th-century Household inventory from the reign of Edward VI lists thirteen such local wardrobes, along with a distinct 'Wardrobe of Robes' ( garderoba robarum ), the Removing Wardrobe (see Privy Wardrobe above), and the still-extant Great Wardrobe. The chief officer of the Wardrobe was initially termed Clerk of the Wardrobe . The first known clericus de garderoba

2960-830: The Second, by the Grace of God, of the Britains and of her other realms Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith';. On the reverse are the full royal arms , including crest, mantling and supporters. This is the first time that the royal arms have provided the main design for one side of the English or British Great Seal. The obverse of the 1953 version depicted the Queen on horseback, dressed in uniform and riding sidesaddle , as she used to attend

3034-519: The Tower in the City of London (its staff necessarily had regular dealings with the City's merchants). This was in part due to lack of space: the Tower was becoming a specialist store and manufacturing base for arms and armour (responsibility for which soon devolved upon a new branch, the Privy Wardrobe – see below). Arms and armour remained at the Tower, as did the royal jewels and other valuable items, but much else

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3108-451: The Tower of London (London having proved to be the most convenient point of distribution), but others were stored elsewhere according to where they might be needed: indeed, several palaces and castles had their own Great Wardrobe storerooms (some of these were designed for storage of specific items, being located close to a place of specialized manufacture or trade; for example, the Prior of St Ives

3182-522: The Tower of London (forerunner of the Great Wardrobe – see below), and one in the crypt of the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. It was the latter that served as the main repository for the royal jewels, plate, coin and bullion through the 13th century; but, following the burglary of the contents of this Treasury in 1303 by a certain Richard Pudlicott (who was assisted by some of the abbey's monks),

3256-430: The Tower since the previous century; the local wardrobe staff had valuable experience and the Tower itself was strategically well-placed for fast distribution. Already in the 1330s, prior to the departure of the Great Wardrobe, the local 'Privy Wardrobe at the Tower' had begun to specialize in this work, and after 1361 it, in turn, took on a degree of financial and administrative independence (becoming directly accountable to

3330-603: The Wardrobe ) was given oversight of the Privy Seal (which had first come into use within the Chamber). This meant that the Wardrobe, which already served as a repository of important documents and Charters, began producing them as well; and thenceforward its Controller tended to be an important and trusted adviser to the king. With these developments, a third official, the Cofferer of the Wardrobe , began to take increasing responsibility for

3404-454: The Wardrobe . From 1232, when the post of Treasurer of the Chamber was merged into the keepership, the terms Keeper, Treasurer and (still) Clerk were used more or less interchangeably; but in the reign of Edward II Treasurer of the Wardrobe emerged as the preferred title. As such, according to an ordinance of 1279, he had charge of the King's expenses (and those of his family), was entrusted with receipt of all money, jewels and presents made to

3478-487: The Wardrobe began to be known as the Household Wardrobe : this was in part to differentiate it from the increasingly autonomous 'Great Wardrobe' (see below), but it also reflects the fact that the wardrobe was by now losing its wider influence. In England, its business was restricted now to Household administration; and although it retained greater influence when accompanying the King and Court overseas, it did so only as

3552-461: The Wardrobe, along with the rest of the royal household, continued to travel with the King as part of his Court, accompanied by the goods and chattels for which it was responsible. It clearly made sense for at least some of these items to be kept in a more settled location. The 'Great Wardrobe' was the name given to this more centralised system of storage; initially, however, there was no single Great Wardrobe location. A majority of items were stored in

3626-521: The annual Trooping the Colour ceremony for many years until the late 1980s. The seal's diameter is 6 inches (150 mm), and the combined weight of both sides of the seal matrix exceeds 275 troy ounces (302  oz ; 8,600  g ). Charles III , as of 2024, uses the seal of his mother and predecessor, having directed by Order in Council on 10 September 2022, "that the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain

3700-517: The authority of the Wardrobe. For example, 1307 saw a separate Keeper of the Privy Seal appointed; over the next few decades the Privy Seal developed into a minor office of state, operating alongside the Office of Chancery, outside both Wardrobe and Household. Then in 1311 a series of Ordinances were issued by barons opposed to the King, a number of which reasserted the status quo ante over recent Wardrobe innovations; for example, ordinance 8 insisted that

3774-413: The baronial opposition, the King could dive underground and still govern the country through the Wardrobe": hence the baronial demand in 1258 that all money should in future go through the Exchequer. During the reign of Edward I , the Wardrobe was at the height of its power as a financial, administrative and military department of the Household and State. It was "the brain and hand of the Court". Its seal,

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3848-421: The bulk of the remaining treasure was removed to the Tower (including items of coronation regalia , such as are still stored at the Tower to this day). Toward the end of Edward's reign, a series of costly wars took their toll on the Wardrobe's hitherto independent means. Then, during the reign of Edward II , concerted efforts were made to reassert traditional rights of the Chancery and the Exchequer, and to limit

3922-427: The day-to-day business of the Wardrobe. The administrative historian T. F. Tout has speculated that a reason for the Wardrobe's increasing influence was its "new and elastic" nature: it was not hidebound by restrictive traditions or customary ways of working. Moreover, it was able to respond quickly in times when speedy expenditure was required – most especially in time of war – and with a flexibility which suited both

3996-484: The election of bishops, commissions of the peace, and many other documents. It formerly constituted treason to forge the Great Seal. The Great Seal of the Realm is in the custody of and is administered by the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal . This office has been held jointly with that of Lord Chancellor since 1761. The current Lord Chancellor is Shabana Mahmood . The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 reiterates that

4070-524: The existing Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations which, with the loss of the American War of Independence , had been dismissed earlier by King George III on 2 May 1782. Great Seal of the Realm The Great Seal of the Realm is a seal that is used to symbolise the sovereign 's approval of state documents. It is also known as the Great Seal of the United Kingdom (known prior to

4144-486: The fiat or under the authority or directions of the Lord Chancellor or otherwise without passing through any other office may continue to be passed as heretofore. (2) The Lord Chancellor may from time to time make, and when made revoke and vary, regulations respecting the passing of instruments under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, and respecting the warrants for that purpose, and the preparation of such instruments and warrants, and every such warrant shall be prepared by

4218-505: The force of his will. With some exceptions, each subsequent monarch up to 1603, when the king of Scotland succeeded to the throne of England, chose his or her own design for the Great Seal. Levina Teerlinc is believed to have designed the seal of Queen Mary I , and also the earliest seal used by her successor Elizabeth I , in the 1540s. When opening Parliament on 3 September 1654, the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell

4292-522: The inscription, "In the first year of Freedom, by God's blessing restored, 1648." In 1655, Cromwell appointed three Commissioners of the Great Seal of Ireland, Richard Pepys , Chief Justice of the Upper Bench, Sir Gerard Lowther, Chief Justice of the Common Bench; and Miles Corbet , Chief Baron of the Exchequer. But they held the seal only until 1656, when Cromwell nominated William Steele , Chief Baron of

4366-466: The king. Like other offices of the household it was an itinerant operation: carts and cases containing valuables travelled with the King and his court as they moved from place to place around the realm. Prior to the 13th century references to the Wardrobe and its keepers are few. The 10th-century King Eadred bequeathed substantial sums of money in his will to his hrœgelthegns (robe-keepers), which may suggest that these were persons of some importance. By

4440-515: The monarch and the nascent powers of English government. It did so largely by securing loans, on the basis of its valuable assets and treasures, from Italian bankers (the Riccardi and the Frescobaldi ). In this way the Wardrobe became an independently powerful financial office. There was however also a political dimension to the Wardrobe's rise. As G. M. Trevelyan put it, "If one office…was secured by

4514-407: The particulars of these commodities than did the Wardrobe clerks . The term Great Wardrobe ( magna garderoba ) first appears in 1253. The older Wardrobe had, by this time, developed into a sophisticated bureaucratic and financial office, and its staff had less time (or inclination) to be occupied with the day-to-day matters of storekeeping. Nevertheless, storekeeping remained a practical necessity as

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4588-510: The personal use of the King when in residence, but the Privy Wardrobe in the Tower of London came to specialize in the storage and manufacture of armour and armaments, and as such it too developed into an autonomous department of the State. By the 15th century the Wardrobe had lost much of its earlier influence, and it eventually merged entirely into the Household and lost its separate identity. At

4662-424: The reign of Henry II the king's Wardrobe is identified as a 'place of safe deposit' with its own staff, and its own premises within various royal palaces or strongholds; there remained, however, a good deal of functional overlap between the Chamber and the Wardrobe. After 1200, however, the Wardrobe grew in activity and in prestige, partly as a result of King John 's constant travelling of the realm, which required

4736-603: The same time, the Great Wardrobe began to be referred to, more simply, as "the Wardrobe", to some extent taking on the identity of its forebear; but in the sixteenth century the Great Wardrobe lost its independence (it continued in existence as a subsidiary department within the Royal Household until it was abolished by the Civil List and Secret Service Money Act 1782 ). In the Middle Ages persons of wealth and power often slept in

4810-411: The size of items being stored, not to the importance of the office). The Great Wardrobe dealt with a variety of commodities ranging from cloth, tapestries, clothing, and furniture to sugar, spices, dried fruit, and pepper; and it later became a repository (and indeed manufactory) of jewellery and other treasures, tents, saddles, bridles, armour, and other military items. What all these items had in common

4884-477: The sovereign over successive reigns. Furthermore, several Peers, Bishops and others set up and maintained their own personal Wardrobes along similar lines to that of the monarch in the 13th-15th centuries; the wardrobe accounts of some reveal levels of household (and military) expenditure to rival that of contemporary royalty. In the later 14th century, when the King's court was less mobile, several small separate Wardrobes were established in castles or palaces used by

4958-682: The throne. The last seal matrix of Elizabeth II was authorised by the Privy Council in July 2001. It was designed by James Butler and replaced that of 1953, designed by Gilbert Ledward . The obverse shows the middle-aged Elizabeth II enthroned and robed, holding in her right hand a sceptre and in her left the orb . The circumscription is an abbreviated form of the royal titles in Latin : elizabeth · ii · d·g · britt · regnorvmqve · svorvm · ceter · regina · consortionis · popvlorvm · princeps · f·d · , lit.   'Elizabeth

5032-406: Was escorted by the three "Commissioners of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of England", who were Whitelock, Lisle, and Widdrington. This Seal was inscribed with "The Great Seal of England, 1648", displaying a map of England, Ireland, Jersey, and Guernsey on one side, with the Arms of England and Ireland. On the other side was shown the interior of the House of Commons, the Speaker in his chair, with

5106-407: Was known as Controller of the Household. The office of Cofferer of the Wardrobe originated in the late 13th century when the Treasurer/Keeper's chief clerk took on particular responsibility for drafting the Wardrobe accounts. Working closely with the Treasurer, the Cofferer usually served as locum tenens when the Treasurer was otherwise engaged with affairs of state (as was often the case); thus

5180-416: Was moved out. From around 1300 the Great Wardrobe had begun to rent properties in the City to provide extra storage and office space. It made use of a series of properties, including in Bassishaw and in Lombard Street , all the while retaining foothold in the Tower. Then, in 1362 it obtained a more suitable property (which itself became known as The Wardrobe ) to the north of Baynard's Castle ; and there it

5254-408: Was one Odo in the reign of King John , who oversaw a small department of carters (to handle the carts), sumpters (to handle the horses), porters (to handle the goods) and other workers. As the Wardrobe grew, both in size and sophistication, a larger number of clerks (who were clergy skilled in administration) were employed, and the chief official came to be distinguished with the title of Keeper of

5328-410: Was required to maintain a storehouse for items purchased by the Wardrobe from the famous cloth market at nearby St Ives, Cambridgeshire .) Throughout the 13th century the Great Wardrobe remained a subsidiary operation within the more senior Wardrobe; and despite the above-mentioned moves toward greater centralisation, the officers of the Great Wardrobe continued to travel with the Court at this time. If

5402-413: Was that they were more or less non-perishable and could be stored long-term if not required for immediate use; the Great Wardrobe originated as the department of the King's Wardrobe which was primarily concerned with the storage of such items when not required by the itinerant Court. Part of its distinctiveness, from an early date, was its employment of city merchants and specialist craftsmen, who better knew

5476-428: Was to remain for the next three centuries. The property, a mansion set in its own grounds, which had formerly belonged to Sir John de Beauchamp , provided not only storage, office and meeting rooms, but lodgings for staff, a residence for the Keeper and space for several small manufactories. The nearby parish church is known to this day as St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe . With its permanent establishment in these headquarters,

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