In the mid-19th Century every town in England had at least one gunmaker. London and Birmingham had hundreds. Most guns were for self-defence, defence of the Empire or supplying a growing arms trade. But the high end market was in sporting guns for the landed gentry where shooting game became a fashionable pastime for the rich, led by the Prince of Wales.

Advances in design came thick and fast, and for 50 years and two generations of ownership, a shop in Coney Street, York was right at the forefront. A list of buyers of Horsley guns in the 1860’s reads like a Who’s Who of Yorkshire. Horsley’s guns were of the highest quality and initially at least, all the work and innovation was done in York.

Tim Manners will show a selection of his guns and talk on the history and rise and fall of one of York’s most famous businesses.