You are standing in the ship’s armoury. This space served several purposes:
Firstly, the ship was steered from in here by the ship’s pilot. Ship’s wheels had not yet been invented in the 16th century. Instead, the pilot would have likely operated the rudder by using a vertical extension of tiller called the whipstaff, which would have come up through the deck just behind the ladder. The whipstaff was a large lever which made moving the tiller much easier, but it was still a very physical job made harder by the fact that the pilot could see very little. He would have received instructions from officers on the upper decks, communicating through the hatch. Our replica whipstaff is currently being constructed.
The armoury would have also served as sleeping quarters for higher ranking members of the ship’s crew, who may have partitioned the space with makeshift wooden or canvas ‘cabins’.
Towards the fore, you can see the top of the ship’s capstan – a wooden column with square holes. The capstan was primarily used to raise the anchor. The anchor rope was attached to the bottom of the capstan on the deck below, so that when the capstan was turned the rope was pulled in and the anchor was raised. This was a long, tedious, and backbreaking job which could take a number of hours. If you’d like to have a go on the capstan, please ask a member of staff.
Finally, the armoury stored the ships close-quarters weapons. Make sure to open the chests to learn more about these.