A timeline of carriages

The stable block clock tower at Arlington Court carriage museum — Sunny skies over the carriage museum

The carriage collection at Arlington Court spans over four hundred years and boasts a variety of carriages for all occasions. Below is a basic timeline of the evolution of coach travel, featuring the creation dates of some of the carriages in the collection.

Whilst we can't be certain of the exact dates for many of our carriages, we know from old magazines and adverts when new desings of carriage came into fashion.

Timeline

1673

Long journeys

A journey by carriage between Exeter and London takes eight days in summer or ten in winter.

1698

Grand designs

Speaker’s State Coach is designed, originally for William III before being passed to the Speaker of the House of Commons by Queen Anne.

The Speaker's State Coach on loan to Arlington Court from the Houses of Parliament

1750

Landau

The Landau is introduced into England. Landaus became very popular with the professional and middle classes as a versatile carriage for all types of driving conditions.

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