The Chapel was formerly known as the Resurrection Chapel. In 1951 it was dedicated to the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, a regiment which recruited from the people of Halifax.

Laid up in the Chapel are colours given to the Regiment, many of which record major battles. In the frames on the wall are colours from the Battle of Waterloo and other conflicts. The final colours were laid in the Chapel on 31st March 2007 and the Regiment is now part of the Yorkshire Regiment.

The Carpet bearing the regimental crest, was one of the last wove by Crossley Carpets of Halifax and the chairs by, Robert ‘Mousy’ Thompson, have the same crest and a signature carved mouse.*

* From an information board outside the Chapel

Located in the heart of Halifax, Halifax Minster is a handsome 15th Century Grade 1 listed Parish Church; a site of major historical importance, a place of worship, prayer, of civic engagement, education and culture; with a year-round programme of events for you to enjoy. The church of St John the Baptist Halifax was given its Minster status in 2009 in recognition of its important role in the civic life of the town and borough.

Visit Halifax Minster to enjoy a tour of the beautiful and historic interior of the building, the beautiful stained glass and painted wooden ceiling panels. Look out for the mice carved into the Thompson chairs in the Wellington Chapel!

The Grade I listed Piece Hall, Halifax is a rare and precious thing, an architectural and cultural phenomenon which is absolutely unique. It is the sole survivor of the great eighteenth century northern cloth halls, a class of buildings which embodied the vital and dominant importance of the trade in hand woven textiles to the pre-industrial economy of the West Riding of Yorkshire, from the Middle Ages through to the early nineteenth century.

Dating from 1779, when it was built as a Cloth Hall for the trading of ‘pieces’ of cloth (a 30 yard length of woven woollen fabric produced on a handloom), The Piece Hall was the most ambitious and prestigious of its type and now stands in splendid isolation as the only remaining example. It is one of Britain’s most outstanding Georgian buildings.

It is impossible to overstate the scale and importance of this trade, not just to the history of Halifax and the West Riding, but to the nation as a whole over some 800 years between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries.

When it was built, The Piece Hall was a highly visible statement of the great wealth, pride and ambition of the cloth manufacturers. Although built for trade, it also embodied the most cultured sensitivities of the Enlightenment; these bluff northern manufacturers deliberately chose a design for their building which adapted the neo-classical orders of architecture derived originally from the Romans.

From its inception, The Piece Hall was a stunning combination of commerce and culture, an icon of hard business but also a broader statement about the history, the lives and the values of its surrounding community. This fascinating mix of purpose and idealism – business, arts and people, continues to influence and drive The Piece Hall’s role today. A direct link back over almost a quarter of a millenium of history.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

The Hall of Steel is the architectural centerpiece of the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. This elegant steel and glass tower is unusual in that the double-glazed glass panels are fixed to an external stainless steel frame.

The displays on the stairwell consist mainly of 17th-century armour and 19th-century military equipment. There are over 2,500 items and they represent the largest mass display of arms and armour assembled since the 19th century.

The fashion for displaying arms and armour in geometrical patterns dates back to the late 17th century, when decorative displays were installed at the Tower of London, Windsor Castle and Hampton Court. The Hall of Steel display is based on those designs. *

* Information from the Royal Armouries Souvenir guide book

Elephants played a role in warfare from the first millennium BC until the 19th century. They were used mainly in India and Southeast Asia but also occasionally in western Asia, north Africa, Spain and Italy.

During battles trained war elephants were able to trample men and horses or pick them up and throw them. They also performed an important function as intimidating vantage platforms from which rulers and high-ranking officials could direct their forces.

Elephants were prominent targets on the battlefield and their protections was important. From at least the 11th century AD until well into the Mughal period, sources from across the Indian subcontinent describe or illustrate war elephants equipped with different types of bargustavan-i-pil (elephant armour).

The reputation of war elephants was so fearsome that their true military value is difficult to assess. *

This example of elephant armour  (bargustavan-i-pil) is from India and probably dated late 16th – 17th century.

This is the only known surviving example of a near-complete mail and plate elephant armour in any public collection in the world. It was probably made in an Indian arsenal in the late 16th or 17th century, but it is difficult to be certain exactly where or for whom.

The mail and plate structure for body armour was used mostly in northern and central India during this time, and is often associated more with the equipment of Muslim states. Yet this armour is decorated with peacocks, lotus blooms and fish, perhaps suggesting it was produced in an area which retained elements of Hindu culture.

The armour would originally have been formed of eight panels, three at either side of the body and one each for the head and the throat. Two of the main sections from the right side of the elephant are missing. *

The armour also has a pair of tusk swords that attached to the sawn-off tusks of the elephant.

When wielded by a charging elephant, these tusk swords would have been fearsome weapons. They are extremely robust with massive reinforced points and rings which presumably allowed the sockets to be strapped firmly over the shortened tusks.

Accounts from the 15th and 16th centuries mention South Asian war elephants wearing tusk swords whilst ravaging enemies on the battlefield or battering fort defences. However, contemporary references to tusk swords become less frequent from the time of the Mughal era. This implies that they dropped out of frequent practical use. Surviving tusk swords are extremely rare.*

*from information boards next to the exhibit

Proverbs 13:11

This scene shows a wounded tiger turning and attacking his pursuers. The incident is described in ‘Sport in Many Lands’, a book written by H. A. L (Henry Astbury Leveson) ‘The Old Shekarry’, one of the most famous game hunters of Victorian times.

Levison served in the Indian army from 1845 to 1854 and returned on hunting trips between 1856  and 1860. The events described here probably took place during his army service.*

*information from a sign board next to the display