Longbow

The longbow is a self (one piece of wood not artificially laminated) bow of varying length, used frequently in the middle ages and became synonomous with English warfare. Whilst the longbow was not unique to the English, it was used in great numbers by that nation and their archers were greatly feared and reviled. Historically it was referred to simply as a 'bow'.

The bow was preferrably made of yew (Spanish yew was prized) although it could also be made of ash, witchhazel or witchelm. The bows typically have a stacked D section to the centre part of the bow and could have a heartwood belly and sapwood back to enhance their performance. The upper and lower ends of the bow limbs were tipped with horn and did not appear to have a bound handle or arrow shelf.

The bows themselves vary in length and examples from the 16th century Mary Rose ship find are between 1.82 to 2.12m long. Earlier longbows from Nydam are 1.73m, Ballinderry 1.85m and Hedeby 1.92m long.

The draw weights of the Mary Rose bows have been calculated at mostly between 150-160 lbs with the upper limit being around 190 lb. Modern longbow archers from the Royal Society of Archers have some archers who can draw and accurately fire, 180 lb longbows, but they are in the minority. To compare, modern SCA combat bows are 30lb at a 28" draw and target archers rarely use above a 60 lb bow.

Reference The Great Warbow, Strickland and Hardy