24 • A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A LOCKSMITH...
Secrets of the
armada chest
Example of an Armada chest
Canterbury Cathedral Armada chest key
St Martin’s Church reproduction lock
»»TIME-HONOURED LOCKSMITH,
Trevor Stroud, specialises in the
servicing and reproduction of historical
locks and keys. Although now semiretired, he continues to work with
ACME Locks and Keys of Canterbury,
where he was first taught his trade by
Michael Boty and John Frizelle. The
three locksmiths worked as a team
until John unfortunately passed away.
John’s son Frazer now runs ACME and
continues to work with Trevor, servicing
contracts such as the maintenance of a
1960s Chubb 110 detainer at Canterbury
Cathedral.
On a recent visit to the Cathedral, the
Vesturer (Head Virger), Chris Crooks,
presented Trevor with an interesting
Armada chest belonging to the Cathedral
that had its key stuck fast in the lock.
Trevor explains more…
“Armada chests were made in
Germany in the 17th century and many
good examples can still be found in
Holland. They were commonly strapped
to the back of carriages and often carried
important goods of value. They would
typically have 8 to 10 locking devices
within the self-locking lid.
“The chest at Canterbury had sat in
the Wax Chamber of the Cathedral for
many years with a bent key stuck in the
lock and I was given the delicate task
of getting the key out. Staff from the
Cathedral’s Conservation Department
photographed the chest, and the bent
key, before I began and took some
‘after’ photographs when the work was
completed.
“I first need to ascertain why the key
was stuck as it was still turning in the lock
but could not be removed and why it not
unlocking the chest fully. I used a little
scope to look inside and discovered that
where the bitting of the key should’ve
have been at 0 degrees to the head of
the key, it was in fact bent to 90 degrees
and still inside the mechanism.
“I was able to line up the key with the
key hole and remove it from the lock,
which revealed a split in the key. I took
it back to my workshop and was able
to straighten out the key and repair
the bend and split by applying heat to
just one side of the key, the side which
would need to be stretched in order to
straighten out the key.”
The key was then returned to the
Cathedral and the chest was successfully
opened. On this occasion the chest only
contained a few papers that weren’t of
any significant value. But Trevor recounts
another occasion when he was asked to
open an Armanda chest which contents
surprised the owners.
Trevor explains: “A locksmith friend
of mine came to me with a locked
chest presented to him by the family
its deceased owner, who did not know
what it contained and no longer had the
key. I initially took an impression of the
cast key. The mould forms to the pattern
LOCKSMITHJOURNAL.CO.UK | NOV/DEC 2016
of what’s inside the lock and from this I
was able to make a reproduction of the
key.
“In such cases, I usually make 2 keys.
The first one is pretty crude and from
that I am then able to make a second
version with a nice finish. With the first
k ey I was able to open the chest and
inside it we discovered the family’s
silverware that had been assumed
missing, along with 2 revolvers and
medals from the owner’s time in World
War One. The reaction of the family
gave me real job satisfaction. It’s always
nice to be able to use my skills to really
help someone.”
Trevor is based in Whitstable, 7
miles from Canterbury, carrying out
old lock work for the area’s many
historic buildings, including old houses,
Churches, castles and of course, the
Cathedral.
“St Martin’s is one of the oldest
Church in England,” continues Trevor.
“I was asked to produce a new set of 6
keys for the Church but they were going
to cost around £100 each. So instead,
I devised a reproduction lock, made
from oak, that looked like the original
but contained a Chubb 114 standard
deadlock. This required me to extend
the length of the bolt work and the
keys to accommodate the thickness of
the door, but this then allowed me to
produce duplicate keys for a fraction
of the price, which was a more feasible
long-term solution for the Church.”
Trevor can be contacted through
ACME Locks and Keys, a wellestablished specialist locksmith firm
operating in the East Kent area and
based in Canterbury. In addition to
Trevor’s expertise, the company also
carries out all manner of locksmithing
jobs, from changing a Yale cylinder due
to a lost key, to supplying a remote
transponder key for a new vehicle,
and even opening a safe or vault and
supplying new keys.
www.acmelocksofcanterbury.co.uk