Whilst visiting the Royal Armouries in Leeds I came across the close helmet of Sir Rowland Cotton.

The helmet was suspended over the alabaster monument designed by the famous architect, Inigo Jones, commissioned for his first wife by Sir Rowland Cotton and in which he himself was later entombed. Son of a prosperous London draper, he was elected Member of Parliament and later knighted. Cotton was Justice of the Peace for Shropshire and mayor of Newcastle.

The close helmet or close helm was a military helmet worn by knights and other men-at-arms. Sir Rowland’s helmet is believed to be German or Flemish, about 1550.

Sir Rowland Cotton (1581 – 1634)