Neil Burridge Ewart Park Bronze Age Sword -- myArmoury.com

Roger Hooper

For a number of years on those "What's On Your List For Next Year" threads, I would write down Neil Burridge's Ewart Park sword (or maybe his Limehouse or Witham swords) but I could never get around to ordering one. I finally bought one and it arrived today.

Here are a few specs (in inches)

Overall Length - 26.5
Blade Length - 21
Widest point of Leaf Blade - 1.875
COG - 6 inches down the blade
Weight - not sure, but I'm guessing just under 2 lbs.
The grip and pommel are made of English Brown Oak

I has a different feel from all my steel swords. Because of the wooden pommel, it has a lot of blade presence, but it is still very maneuverable. Of course, it should be used with a shield, and is very much an offensive weapon. When I wield it, cutting feels very natural, but it also seems to favor an underhand thrust.

It is a beautiful sword, the first bronze in my collection. The Ewart Park swords that Neil has been making lately are a little different from the one that appears on his website. This one has a central ridge down the blade with a slight depression accompanying it on each side.

The originals were found mainly in northern England, dated between 800 and 700 BCE

Here are a few photos that I took, the best I could do. The sword didn't want to be photographed.

Aaron Hoard · Posted: Mon 10 Apr, 2017 9:54 pm Post subject:

Gorgeous. He's really putting out some amazing work lately.

Dan Howard · Posted: Mon 10 Apr, 2017 10:28 pm Post subject:

I never get tired of seeing Neil's work.

Mark Moore · Posted: Tue 11 Apr, 2017 12:08 am Post subject:

I'm not big on bronze weapons, but that is stunning! I'm glad you took the plunge! I'm sure you are too! Big Grin

....McM

Matthew Amt · Posted: Tue 11 Apr, 2017 5:53 am Post subject:

Welcome to the Ewart Park Club! (Though I guess we should be a "society", since we don't want anyone to think that "club" implies anything about the weapon itself!) That's definitely a lovely one.

And yes, it's very hard to photograph polished bronze! I usually have to do a lot of Photoshopping to avoid "black with glare"... So nice job on those.

Congrats!

Matthew

Roger Hooper · Posted: Tue 11 Apr, 2017 10:33 am Post subject:

Two more photos of this sword, taken by Neil Burridge

Gregg Sobocinski · Posted: Tue 11 Apr, 2017 6:25 pm Post subject:

Fantastic! That wood in the handle is as deep and rich as the sword is shiny!
For photography, I always recommend natural lighting on an overcast day.
Congrats on the awesome acquisition!

Marty Lee · Posted: Sat 04 Nov, 2017 8:05 am Post subject:

If theres a Neil Burridge bronze sword club I joined it a few months ago with an Ewart Park sword and a scabbard from Steve Herta.

Michael Sandoval · Posted: Tue 19 Dec, 2017 12:30 am Post subject:

Welcome to the club, Marty!

Nice work on the scabbard. I had some beautiful bronze age inspired scabbards custom made as well, by Sonny Suttles who did a superlative job. I notice that you have Neil's most updated design of the Ewart Park. Quite beautiful, and great handle. Did you create that yourself?

I'm guessing that the more pronounced central rib grants more structural stability to the blade, though perhaps at the cost of cutting ability? (That is, if the cut is drawn through the blade, as YouTube Thrand tested with another of Neil's designs). Did Neil happen to communicate to you as to why he changed the design (which has been evolving over the years, as it were)? Just curious.

Thanks for posting!

Dan Howard · Posted: Wed 20 Dec, 2017 7:12 am Post subject:

If you don't have a pronounced medial ridge, it is very hard to cast the blade without voids. When being used in combat the pronounced ridge limits the depth of a cut. This can be both good and bad depending on what you are trying to achieve.

Michael Sandoval · Posted: Tue 20 Mar, 2018 11:09 am Post subject: New design Ewart Park

The work that Neil did for Marty and Roger is beautiful.

Dan or anybody else, I was wondering what you think prompted the changes in the design, because it looks like the Ewart Park has evolved over the years as Neil continues to tweak the sword. My own Ewart Park, and others, have a less pronounced Central Ridge. I’m wondering if other archaeological finds have been discovered to prompt the change, or if this is a result of more modern experimentation for utility.

The period examples that I have seen iseem to follow Neil’s older design. But there certainly are a lot of other original examples out there!