Museum Axes in Oxford, England

Some cool stuff there, love that boarding axe :cool: Hope you enjoyed your visit :thumbsup:

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Ha, it's less than 3 inches wide -- you'd have to be in pretty desperate straits for that to be your go-to paddle! :eek:
 
Interesting.
My interests lye in American woods axes, but these are interesting none the less.
 
TimberWolf7.62 said:
Ha, it's less than 3 inches wide -- you'd have to be in pretty desperate straits for that to be your go-to paddle! :eek:
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E1l9ncw.jpg

Is that axe in the category of "weapon"? I wonder if that shape of the swell has something to do with how it was carried - horseback/saddle/tucked under an armor flange, easier grip in a gauntlet, or something along those lines? Just thinking out loud. great pics by the way - thank you.
 
I'd hazard a guess it's for prying seeing as it's a boarding axe, OK it wouldn't be great at it but in the heat of battle if you're going to have a swell it might as well be that shape seeing as one of it's uses was opening doors, hatches etc.
 
Naval men were quite ingenious at running up a variety of items as needed. Though it wouldn't make an ideal paddle with the axe head on or off, there is no guarantee that piece of wood didn't start life at sea as an oar or paddle. Waste not, want not, if you are on a sailing vessel with no easy access to a hardware store.
 
^^^
Read Herman Melville's description of the ship's carpenter in 'Moby Dick'. It will confirm what youy just said. I suspect there's some period use we're not thinking of, like stirring the grog or something else off the wall.
 
Looks as though the museum in Oxford isn't the only place to have one.

http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/weapons/ind.../europe/arms-and-armour-europe-154/index.html

"The flattened butt of the handle was intended for inserting into narrow gaps (say, between a door and frame, or two planks), and levering. The axe could also of course be used as an all-purpose tool and as a weapon.

Boarding axes - together with cutlasses for close-quarters fighting -became redundant in late Victorian and early 20th century naval life when the technological development of firepower meant that combat between vessels took place at distances of kilometres and hundreds of metres, rather than metres. However, thanks to the boarding axe's multi-purpose cutting, smashing and levering functions, it has endured as the template for the fireman's axe still used today."
 
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