Medieval Arrows

Medieval Arrows Museum quality medieval arrows and arrowheads for collectors, archers, museums and film/TV work, made by Master Arrowsmith Will Sherman FSA

I am a traditional fletcher specialising in making medieval arrows for flight shooting, competitions and roving, alongside museum and Film/TV work. My arrows are based on existing medieval examples, such as the arrows found on the Mary Rose or in Westminster Abbey, or the Nydam, Haithabu and Valsgarde burial finds.

Busy few days getting this lot finished up. New base and finish for the ticket office display set, plus three new hea...
09/06/2026

Busy few days getting this lot finished up. New base and finish for the ticket office display set, plus three new heads on short shaft sections for the brand new museum exhibition.

Rams horn handles put on the two 15thC Thames replica pieces ready for sheath work.

A new handle of maple, rosewood, brass and iron fitted to one of last year's Archer's Picks available now!

Set of three historical replica arrows for the brilliant Ralph Moffat of Glasgow Museum (if you've not read Ralph's sourcebooks on the 14th and 15th centuries you need a long hard look at yourself!)

And in my lunchbreak a quick coastal stroll to grab another 115 swan primaries ready for cleaning and storing.

Phew! Now to get back to prep and forge out some more Iron Age tools for the chariot build!

Really pleased with how these two 15th Century knife replicas came out of the etch today. Wrought iron bodies with car...
04/06/2026

Really pleased with how these two 15th Century knife replicas came out of the etch today. Wrought iron bodies with carbon steel cutting edges forge welded in, and both are copies of British Museum items, 1856,0701.2356 and 1856,0701.2340.

Tricky little things to forge, but a nice challenge! Looking forward to getting some nice horn handle scales on in the next few days.

Back at Corfe Castle to pick up the arrowheads I made a few years ago. They're about to go on display at the new museum...
04/06/2026

Back at Corfe Castle to pick up the arrowheads I made a few years ago. They're about to go on display at the new museum exhibition alongside the originals so they need cleaning up!

Work continues for the today, as we start to fit the iron age chariots with its wheels made by the astonishing and ce...
28/05/2026

Work continues for the today, as we start to fit the iron age chariots with its wheels made by the astonishing and central shaft.

The iron age adze and saw are having their first day of work too, with some adjustments required to get the best out of them...!

The Salisbury Museum collectionNow available! Seven medieval heads all from the fantastic collection held by Salisbury ...
27/05/2026

The Salisbury Museum collection

Now available!

Seven medieval heads all from the fantastic collection held by Salisbury Museum.

Each of the heads in this set are copied exactly from my own drawings, measurements and examinations of the originals, so you can be certain that they are identical to the original medieval objects!

From left to right:

Type 13 arrowhead
Type 1 arrowhead
Type 7a arrow or bolt head
Type 15 dart head
Type 6 bolt head
Type 11 bolt head
Type 17 arrowhead

The heads are mounted on short shafts of ash, poplar or pine and fitted into a fire-blackened wooden base. The heads have been given a forge-blackened finish and coated with wax, to match as closely as possible the condition they are in within the museum collection today.

Available through my website at www.medievalarrows.co.uk/shop

12th Century display set for I was commissioned by Ely Museum recently to make a set of 12th Century arrows and a cross...
27/05/2026

12th Century display set for

I was commissioned by Ely Museum recently to make a set of 12th Century arrows and a crossbow bolt for an upcoming museum display.

The two arrows are copied from existing 12th Century examples from northern Europe, with their characteristic bulbous nocks that remain the standard arrow nock well into the 1400s. The swan feathers are bound with fine h**p into a birch tar glue and the heads are copied from two extant 12th Century finds, the barbed Type 16 from York and the needle head from London.

The crossbow bolt was made using dimensions supplied generously by .balistarius and fitted with a standard iron 12th Century quarrel head. It has swan feathers glued with hide glue and bound with h**p.

It was a hot day in the forge today, but I'm very excited to show you guys the heads for the brand new Salisbury Collec...
26/05/2026

It was a hot day in the forge today, but I'm very excited to show you guys the heads for the brand new Salisbury Collection display set that'll be hitting the website very soon!

All seven of these heads are copied from my own measurements and examinations of the originals held by Salisbury Museum. From left to right:

Type 1 arrow head
Type 6 bolt head
Type 7a arrow or bolt head
Huge Type 15 dart head
Type 11 bolt head
Type 13 arrow head
Type 17 arrow head

These will be available as a full set on a display stand just like the Corfe Collection, so keep your eyes on the page!

Two 11th Century military arrows, one 12th Century hunting arrow and two 12th Century military arrowsThe two 11th Centu...
22/05/2026

Two 11th Century military arrows, one 12th Century hunting arrow and two 12th Century military arrows

The two 11th Century arrows are copied from extant Hiberno-Norse examples, and fitted with small tanged and barbed war heads from Ireland, bound with sinew.

The single 12th Century hunting arrow has a Type 1 from York, and the two military arrows have a Type 7a needle head from Scotland and a 12th Century barbed head from York. All of the 12th Century arrowshafts are copied from surviving 12th Century north European arrows.

All arrows are fletched with swan into birch tar glue (pine resin doesn't seem to have been used as an adhesive on arrows) and bound with either flax or fine h**p depending on the period. The earlier arrows are bound far more tightly than the later ones, as per originals.

As all of the arrows are from before the 15th Century they all have "bulbous" nocks, as the horn insert synonymous with English arrows only seems to appear well into the 1400s. The nock shape does change depending on the influence however - the Hiberno-Norse nocks look different to the English nocks for example.

Thirty 14th/15thC crossbow bolt heads for These 30 took me an afternoon to make and finish, but in the 1250s John Malem...
22/05/2026

Thirty 14th/15thC crossbow bolt heads for

These 30 took me an afternoon to make and finish, but in the 1250s John Malemort and his team at one site (St. Briavels Castle) were required to produce 50,000 (yes, fifty THOUSAND) finished quarrels every year, which is roughly 137 every single day - that's heads and bolts. That alone tells you the size of the workshop and the number of people working alongside each other making military bolts and heads in the 13th Century, so just imagine the sheer scale of operations by the time the 100 Years War was under way in the 14th and 15th centuries!!

The second tool I wanted to forge for the chariot build is an iron age saw. This one is a copy of the saw blade found ...
20/05/2026

The second tool I wanted to forge for the chariot build is an iron age saw. This one is a copy of the saw blade found at which has the teeth cut on the pull stroke, very common for this period.

The saw blade is forged from wrought iron, with an unhardened medium carbon steel edge welded on. The teeth were cut first with a chisel, and then filed.

Pictured here is the saw replica alongside the original Iron Age artefact, as well as the amazing xray conducted by Bournemouth University (copyright permission granted by Hengistbury Head)

Address

The Old Blacksmith's Shop, London Lane, Christchurch
Dorset
BH237BG

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