Northamptonshire is 'very significant county' when it comes to the research of arms and armour, according to expert

There is even a riding school that teaches people how to ride and fight in armour, Dr Tobias Capwell told his audience at a recent talk he was giving in Higham Ferrers.

And there is also an ‘amazing’ volume of effigies of men in armour in various historic parish churches.

He said: “It is easy to take for granted things that are on your doorstep.”

Dr Capwell, who as well as being an academic specialist and a renowned authority on arms and armour, has first-hand experience of his subject as he is also a medieval martial arts practitioner involved in jousting and sword combat.

He was giving a talk about the armour of the English knight and his work on funerary monuments – effigies - to a packed audience attending the final session of the Higham Ferrers Arts Weekend, organised by The Friends of St Mary’s, a registered secular charity dedicated to the preservation of the town’s three Grade I listed buildings.

During his lengthy experience – he has been a curator at leading global museums, is a historical advisor and has written a string of books – he discovered the art of medieval funerary.

He said: “Effigies are literally an art form.

"There is a huge amount of evidence about what armour looked like in England.”

And armour was body art, he added.

Armour comprised of some 16 elements and much of it was held together with cloth and leather.

Asked what it felt like to put on armour, which can weigh between 20kg and 35kg, he said: “Power…your body is transformed and is now something else…and with the horse, there is another level of transformation again.”

Dr Capwell had taken along various items of armour which the audience were able to examine, in between queuing up for the list of where the various effigies are in the county and having the chance to buy his books.