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A political history of Britain in the places where it happened: parliament and palace, courts and counting houses, and the streets where people pushed back.
The office that decides who ranks where, run by a hereditary Great Officer of State.
MonarchyIdeas & memoryFree to enter
Also in Museums and Royal London.
Rank in England is administered from this building. The College settles questions of precedence and advises on the peerage, the baronetage and honours, and it grants the arms that mark them - which is to say it keeps the paperwork of a hierarchy the country has never quite abolished. Above the heralds sits the Earl Marshal, one of the two Great Officers of State, an office hereditary in the Dukes of Norfolk and the reason a single family has run coronations and state funerals for centuries.
Richard III chartered the heralds in 1484; the charter they work under is Philip and Mary's of 1555. The Earl Marshal's Court, where heraldic disputes were actually tried, is free to see on a weekday - and the evening tours, booked through the Officer in Waiting, add the Waiting Room and the Record Room.
| Monday | 10:00 – 16:00 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 10:00 – 16:00 |
| Wednesday | 10:00 – 16:00 |
| Thursday | 10:00 – 16:00 |
| Friday | 10:00 – 16:00 |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
Hours from the page that lists them, checked 8 September 2026.
Submit a correction for this listing.
Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.