the Longbow


Books, Sites, Clubs and Businesses.

This page contains a list of those sources of which I think the well travelled archer should know. This is a personal selection, and thus bound to be incomplete. Please let me know of any publications, printed or net, that should appear here, (and why!).

The Printed Word.

Longbow: a social and military history, Robert Hardy, 1976, Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth, (ISBN 0-9511747-0-3). Every archer should have this book in their library. Hardy's enthusiasm shows in each page, and the scope of the work is impressive. There is also a useful bibliography and good technical appendices.

Toxophilus; the school of shooting, Roger Ascham, 1985 (this edition), The Simon Archery Foundation, Manchester. Although written over 400 years ago this little book still contains most that a serious bowman or woman will ever need to know about the bow.

The Medieval Archer, Jim Bradbury, 1985, The Boydell Press, Woodridge, (ISBN 0-85115-194-9). A valuable and thorough historical study covering all types of archery.

Arms, armies and fortifications in the Hundred Years War, ed. Anne Curry and Michael Hughes, 1994, The Boydell Press, Woodridge, (ISBN 0-85115-365-8). Contains useful article on the longbow by Hardy.

English Longbowman,1330-1515, Clive Bartlett, illus Gerry Embleton, 1995, Osprey, London, (ISBN 1-85532-491-1). I recall reading that the author was unhappy with this edition, but it still is a useful publication.

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Archery Organisations.

Note all logos, badges, etc. remain the property of the respective company or organisation, and are probably all copyright. It is not the intention of this site to infringe any of those rights in any way.

I have changed the layout of this page slightly. Below you will find links to the main archery organisations; local clubs now have their own page.

British Longbow Society logo The British Longbow Society: this site contains the aims of the society; a list of recommended bowyers and fletchers (the Craft Guild of Traditional Bowyers and Fletchers), and a short piece on the care of your longbow which many acquaintances of mine could benefit from reading. The society is (obviously) directed to longbows and 2 way target and clout shoots.
GNAS logo The Grand National Archery Society is the governing body of archery in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and publishes the rules of shooting and handicap and classification tables. This site contains valuable links to domestic and international archery clubs, other archery sites and news groups, as well as a useful history of the society, news, events, records, who's who, and a shop, which will sell you Christmas cards!
FITA logo Federation Internationale de Tir a l'Arc (FITA).Exactly the sort of professional site you'd expect from a world sporting organisation.
NFAS logo The National Field Archery Society (NFAS) exists to foster and promote Field Archery as a sport in which archers enjoy themselves by shooting at inanimate objects of suitable sizes, placed at distances unknown to the archers, set in natural undulating terrain populated by trees and shrubbery with few or no clear-laned targets. (quoted from the constitution).

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Recommended Archery Sites.

Mary Rose logo The Mary Rose Trust. A good site containing drawings of the artefacts, a photo gallery, a tour of the wreck, news, etc. Not a lot specifically on the bows though.
Saggitarius Twente logo Saggitarius Twente is a Dutch archery club who have established an excellent web site covering all aspects of archery - there are even two articles on making longbow strings! Also includes links to many other sites and two excellent bulletin boards - one for quotes and one for excuses! This is a huge site, and recommended if only for the excellent articles.
Royal ArmouriesRoyal  Armouries Royal Armouries. A good site, but its relevence is rather dependent on the current display.
Angus Dutton has an interesting site, note in particular his FAQ page, and an article on splitting billets for arrow shafts. He also has FAQ, details of records, the Scottish Archery Association, personal stuff including interesting musings, and more links than you could shake a stick at.
Nebraska Traditional Archers - useful information on wood for bow making, plus links to other sites.
SAA logo Society of Archer-Antiquaries. Articles from this evidently useful journal appear here, hosted by Saggitarius Twente.
The Simon Archery Collection. Here you will find a history of the collection, lists of interesting sounding publications, and a few links.
French Institute of Toxology is 'an Association whose object is research on bows, crossbows, spear throwing and on societies who use these weapons. These researchs concern methods, ethnological and historical aspects.' The site contains:
Itiwana logo selfbows, custom arrows, quivers, leather equipments, (sic)...which rightly belongs below under commercial sites, and
Traditional Archery World, a magazine published in French and English, covering - 'History, Archeology, Ethnology, Bowhunting and all bow disciplines, Bow making, Arts & Crafts, Museums, Exhibitions, Reports, Documents, Stories, ...'
bownet logo Bownet: A whacking great site, based around the BOW magazine, with about 20 seperate pages, covering such things of interest as tackle for sale, q & a, and commercial interests like Marksman, Opechee (quivers, bow bags and shirt guards), Chiltern Archery and Browning Archery UK.
Stefan's Florilegium: a very useful resource which I highly recommend. It is a collection of articles complied by Mark Harris, and, apart from the wealth of archery articles, it covers topics such as plants, herbs, and spices, textiles, beverages, dwellings, and many other things of interest to reenactors. The archery articles I have enjoyed and found useful are on the following subjects:
Construction of self- and long bows;
Crossbow history, definition, and construction;
FAQs;
History of Archery;
List and reviews of books on archery;
Making and serving your own bowstring;
Making archery bows;
Making arrows;
Repairing and replacing your bowstring serving;
Walkback tuning of bows;
Traditional bowmaking; and
Clout shooting.

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Commercial Interests.

The following are archery businesses I have used, and thus can recommend. You should note that I live in the South East of England. Some of the sites listed above also host commercial sites.

Quicks logo Quicks. An impressive and large site that uses frames. They have quite a lot of stuff on longbows. Very professional.
Severn's - no site, but a good catalogue with much of interest. Their address is Severn Products, The Butts, Boreley, Ombersley, Worcs., WR9 0HS.

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I am aware of other companies and traders that would be of interest to the longbowman or woman, and when I've spoken to them I'll add them above. Please contact me if you want to add to these lists. I would be interested to hear your views on this site, and any questions you might have You can e-mail me at nigelrcook????@clara.co.uk As an anti-spam device delete the ???? from my address - sorry for the inconvenience!


thumbnail of index background Return to Home page link to pg 4 Local clubs (new page: few entries)
thumbnail of background page 1 Why another site on the Longbow? {short description of image} A diversion: the Longbow in film, television, and fiction
thumbnail of page 2 background Some notes on the tricky subject of arrow making Personal favourites