The Round Table

Although now known to have been constructed in the 14th Century, and repainted in its present form for King Henry VIII, the table has for centuries been venerated by generations of tourists as the mysterious table of the 'Once and Future King' Arthur.

The names of the 24 knights are written around the edge of the 5.5 metre diameter table, weighing 1200kg, surmounted by King Arthur on his throne.

The first written accounts of the Arthurian story appeared in 1130 in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 'History of the Kings of Britain', which maintains that Merlin had the 15-year-old Arthur crowned at nearby Silchester.

However, the first mention of the Round Table is Robert Wace's Roman de Brut (1155), which says that Arthur seated his knights at a round table so that all should be equal. In Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur, the table is a wedding gift to Arthur from Guinevere's father, Leodegrance.

The inscription round the centre of the Table and the names of the knights round the margin appear as follow:

This is the rownde table of kyng Arthur w(ith) xxiiii of his namyde knyattes.

1. S(ir) galahallt Sir Galahad
2. S(ir) launcelot deulake Sir Lancelot
3. S(ir) gauen Sir Gawaine
4. S(ir) p(er)cyvale Sir Percival
5. S(ir) Iyonell Sir Lionel
6. S(ir) trystram delyens Sir Tristan
7. S(ir) garethe Sir Gareth
8. S(ir) bedwere Sir Bedivere
9. S(ir) blubrys Sir Blioberis
10. S(ir) lacotemale tayle Sir La cotemal tail
11. S(ir) lucane Sir Lucan
12. S(ir) plomyd Sir Palamedes
13. S(ir) lamorak Sir Lamorak
14. S(ir) born de ganys Sir Bors
15. S(ir) safer Sir Saphar
16. S(ir) pelleus Sir Pellinore
17. S(ir) kay Sir Kay
18. S(ir) Ectorde marys Sir Ector
19. S(ir) dagonet Sir Dagonet
20. S(ir) degore Sir Degore
21. S(ir) brumear Sir Brunar
22. S(ir) lybyus dyscovy(us) Sir Guinglain
23. S(ir) Alynore Sir Alymore
24. S(ir) mordrede Sir Modred