Bows

We are always being asked 'what is the best bow type' and it's very hard to answer as it all depends on what bow type you want to shoot and what works the best for you. Longbow archery runs in our veins! We are the archery shop for a traditional English longbow or any types of bow made from wood for that matter! We pride ourselves on our knowledge of all types of wooden bows. We don't do compound vs Recurve vs Longbow and everything else. If you want to buy a traditional bow then we are the archery shop for you. From beginners looking for a beginners bow to experienced archers looking for their next bow every archer is an individual looking for what works for them. We can help and offer you advice when you are buying a bow from flatbeds to horse bows and English longbows - just let us know.

Archery sets and kits

We can help you out together the best archery kit for you. Sometimes an off the shelf kit wouldn't suit a certain archer so unlike other archery shops we try and fit the kit to the archer. No matter what you need you can buy your archery kit from us knowing that the advice we offer comes from a vast knowledge of traditional archery and many years of shooting traditional bows and coaching traditional archers. From a beginners takedown bow to a full English Longbow everyone has to start somewhere so why not buy yours from a shop run by traditional archers!

Recurve bows

We leave the Olympic recurve bows to other dealers but if you need a traditional one piece recurve bow or a takedown recurve bow we can certainly help you and advise on your purchase before you buy your bow. Most beginners start their archery journey using a beginners recurve bow as they are easy to shoot and fast to learn on plus most archery clubs use them to teach archery lessons with. In our archery shop you will see a huge range of traditional recurve bows to suit any archer and if you need help just contact us to discuss any recurve bow issues.

Traditional bows

From the mighty English Longbow to the fast and furious horse bow these bows are what archery is all about. Stunningly beautiful woods and materials with no sight aids, or bells and whistles these are the bows for the traditional archer to master. With the basic archery equipment of wood arrows, quiver, shooting glove and arm guard you'll be off to the woods or the archery course in no time. Traditional archers enjoy the skill of being at one with their kit and the challenge of shooting by instinct to hit whatever target they are looking at. So whether you are looking at shooting at multiple archery disciplines such as unmarked distances in the woods, clout, target or field archery you can rest assured that buying a bow from The Longbow Shop is the way to go.

What type of bows do you have?

Our collections of traditional bows include self yew bows, flatbows and recurve bows. American flatbows and Mongolian horse bows sit alongside takedown recurve bows. Whatever you shoot there's something for every traditional archer to enjoy.

We have lots of archery bows for sale even down to matching bow and arrows for kids. Our bows have many different types of wood combinations. We love the instinctive feel of shooting something without a pin sight or bolt-on weight.

If you want to shoot a wooden bow and matching archery equipment we can guide you on the best matching kit. We have heavy draw weight longbows. Some are based on the mary rose bows shot by the English armies of old. The heavy laminated longbows are made by Heritage Longbows and Ravenbeak NatureWorks make self yew longbows.

We can also help with special one-off custom archery bows. We leave compound bows, crossbows and Olympic recurve bows in the UK to the other archery retailers!

English Longbows from The Longbow Shop

If you are wanting the best advice on English longbows for sale we are the best shop in the business to talk to. Every member of our staff is an experienced longbow archer with many years of shooting experience. Traditional archery is what we are all about. It's our passion and our privilege to be part of an ever-growing area of the sport.

Why are bows expensive?

We get asked a lot about this one, especially on the handcrafted self-bows. Making a traditional bow takes a lot of skill and time. You aren't paying extra for a brand name like Hoyt or Matthews. If you mix that with the knowledge of the expensive woods and how they will work together to make a bow, then that starts to form the price foundation. If you then break down how long a bow takes to build you will find most of the bowyers are actually working for less than minimum wage. What keeps these artisans going isn't the money. Yes, we all need to pay bills but it's the passion and the pure will to keep traditions alive that makes these artisans build bows. Next time you ask the question about the price ask yourself what has actually gone into making that bow.

How a bow is born