THE TOWER OF LONDON

William the Conqueror (c.1028-1087) ed the successful Norman invasion of England in 1066. The following decade construction The Tower of London has been a fortress since at least the time of the Normans. Its form was unprecedented in the country. Lying downriver from the City of London, it was intended to both protect and menace its charge. The principal building material was Kentish ragstone. The skill masonry was carried out by Frenchmen. They used stone that had been quarried near Caen in France for the more detailed work. This was supplemented by Reigate stone. The unskilled labour was provided by Englishmen. It took twenty years to complete the initial iteration of the stronghold.

During the reign of King Richard I (d.1199) a curtain wall that constructed that created the inner ward. This contains the White Tower and the complex's original buildings. King Edward I further expanded the fortress. The latter added another curtain wall. This created the outer ward. The moat was enlarged. The complex covered almost twelve acres (4.9 ha.). King Henry III (d.1272) ordered that a strip of land should be kept clear to facilitate the stronghold s defence. This space, which covered a further six acres (4.4 ha.), became known as the Tower Liberties.

By the mid-19^thC it was apparent that portions of the Tower were falling into disrepair because they were no longer in the use. The architects Anthony Salvin and John Taylor were commissioned to carry out restoration work. The architects took the opportunity to Medievalise portions of the complex to their own particular tastes

Location: The Tower of London, EC3N 4AB (purple, orange)

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london

The Ceremony of The Keys

The Ceremony of the Keys takes place every night. Individuals who wish to attend it have to write in advance, giving the names and the addresses of those who will be attending. Once, during the Second World War, it occurred ten minutes late. This was because the Luftwaffe had bombed the Tower.

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/ceremony-of-the-keys

Chapels

The Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula

Beneath the altar of the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula are buried, in unmarked graves, the bones of numerous royal and noble individuals. Their remains were usually buried there without memorials because they were individuals for whom it was regarded as being politically inexpedient that their corpses should have public graves. They included: Anne Boleyn (d.1536), Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Grey (d.1554).

The Chapel underwent restoration work in 1876. A number of corpses were exhumed and reburied beneath its marble pavement. This time they were interred with memorials that acknowledged their identities.

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/chapel-royal-of-st-peter-ad-vincula www.thechapelsroyalhmtoweroflondon.org.uk

The Constable of The Tower

The office of Constable has long been honorary. The complex's day-to-day management is headed by the Resident Governor.

The Crown Jewels

In 1303 the Crown Jewels were moved from Westminster Abbey to the Tower. There, they were deposited in Wardrobe Tower.

During the English Republic the regalia was either melted down or sold off.¹ By 1660, the year in which the monarchy was restored, the anointing spoon, the ampulla, and some individual jewels were all that remained of the Crown Jewels. The goldsmith Sir Robert Vyner oversaw the preparation of the items that were used during the coronation of King Charles II in 1661.

The present Royal Collection's jewels date largely from the end of the 19^thC after South Africa's mines began producing and Queen Victoria had had herself made Empress of India. Prior to that era the royal family had hired jewels that were then set in the crowns temporarily.

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/the-crown-jewels/gs.v5whwn

¹. During the Civil Wars, the City of London had sided with Parliament against King Charles I; the survival of large quantities of medieval guild plate testifies to the efficacy of having backed the winning side.

Captain Blood

In 1671 Captain Thomas Blood tried to steal the Crown Jewels. There is something of a mystery surrounding this attempted theft and the officer's subsequent pardon by King Charles II. One possibility is that the monarch, who was nearly always short of money, organised the effort to steal his own property in order that he should be free to sell the items surreptitiously, it being impolitic for him to do so publicly.

See Also: ROBBERY

The Martin Tower

In the 1660s and 1670s the area around the White Tower was cleared. The Jewel House was demolished and the crown jewels were moved to the Martin Tower.

The Moat

When the Waterloo Barracks were constructed during the 1840s the Tower's moat was drained.

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/superbloom-at-the-tower-of-london

Prisoners

From 1100 prisoners were occasionally held in the Tower. The last time that the stronghold was attacked from ground level was in 1554. The complex's principal role since Tudor times has been to act as a state prison rather than as a fortress or a palace. In British, the phrase to be sent to the Tower , which means to be in disgrace, derives from this role.

One of the most celebrated escapes from the Tower was that of the Jacobite rebel the 5^th Earl of Nithsdale from the Queen's House in 1716 on the eve of his intended execution. At the time, his lordship was dressed in women's clothing. He died in Rome almost nearly thirty years later.

In 1952 was the last time that any prisoners were held in the Tower.

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/tower-of-london-prison/gs.v5x0uh

Sir Walter Raleigh

The courtier and adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh was for many years incarcerated within the Tower, his privateering activities in the Caribbean having led him to run afoul of the Spanish party at court. Within its walls, he was able to lead a congenial life, writing his The History of The World (1614). However, ultimately, the political current ran against him and he was executed.

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/sir-walter-raleigh

The Ravens

After the Great Fire of 1666, ravens took to roosting in the Tower of London. John Flamsteed the Astronomer Royal complained to King Charles II that the birds were interfering with the observations that he was seeking to make from the White Tower. The king ordered that they should be destroyed. However, he was informed of a prophecy that such would lead to the end of royalty in England. Therefore, he instructed that six of the corvids should be spared. An instance of scientific observation giving way - in part - to superstitious practice. Ever since then a handful of the birds have been kept in the Tower by a raven master. They are let out every morning and called in every evening. Some have lived for several decades.¹

At the end of the Second World War there was only one raven left at the Tower. The others were believed to have been driven away by the aerial bombing.

In 1981 Grog escaped from the Tower. Subsequently, he was discovered outside The Rose & Punchbowl, an East End pub.

Despite their frequently brazen behaviour, ravens appear at heart to be bashful creatures. When the Tower wishes that the birds should mate it sends them to a zoo in Colwyn Bay, North Wales.

There is a graveyard for the ravens. It is located close to the principal entrance in the filled in moat.

In 2017 Merlina became the first raven to have her flight feathers clipped in such a way that she was free to fly beyond the Tower's confines. The decision to do this had derived from the fact that she had a particular strong bond with the raven master. He had been clipping all of the birds so that they retained their primary flight feathers and only lost some of their secondary ones. This meant that they had greater scope for short flight. This was both so that they could be fitter and so that they could escape urban foxes. Two had been killed by one in 2013.

Location: The Rose & Punchbowl, 7 Redmans Road, E1 3AQ. Gone.

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/sir-walter-raleigh www.welshmountainzoo.org

¹. The collective noun for ravens is an unkindness.

The Royal Armouries

The Royal Armouries is a collection of weapons and armour. It has been open to the public since King Charles II's (1630-1685) reign.

Royal Palace

By the late 12^thC, a luxurious palace started to be constructed to the south of the White Tower. A great hall was constructed next to the inner ward's wall. From the early 14^thC, on the eve of coronations, the monarch would sleep there so that s/he could be seen by Londoners before travelling to Westminster Abbey. King Charles II (d.1685) was the last sovereign to do so.

It was in its splendour that Anne Boleyn was kept prisoner prior to her execution in 1536.

In the 1660s and 1670s the area around the White Tower was cleared away.

See Also: PALACES

Torture

There was never a dedicated torture chamber within the Tower. However, in at the dog end of the Medieval period a rack was stored there.

The Star Chamber

The Star Chamber Court had the legal right to use torture and acted without a jury. In a political concession that King Charles I (1600-1649) made prior to the English Civil Wars the Court was abolished.

Star Chamber has remained a term that is popularly applied to public bodies that are held to be behaving in an arbitrary way and that are regarded as being insufficiently accountable.

Website: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/court-star-chamber-records-1485-1642

The London Cage

The British are given to congratulating themselves upon the fact that their armed services do not use torture. This has not always been the case. Within specialist sections of the Army there has long existed a technical knowledge of how to utilise the practice in the conduct of interrogations.

The Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre was established by the Army s Intelligence Corps in 1940 whilst the Second World War was being fought. The facility became known as the London Cage. Within it, torture was used on some German officers. Following the return of peace, the unit continued to operate. Its ostensible purpose was the investigation of war crimes. It functioned as part of a network that existed across Europe and North Africa. It was closed down in 1948.

Location: 8 Kensington Palace Gardens, W8 4QP. The site of the Cage. (blue, turquoise)

Tower Green

On Tower Green, there is a board with six names inscribed upon it. The names are those of people who were given the privilege of being executed in this semi-private place rather than out on Tower Hill in front of a crowd. The six included two of King Henry VIII's (1491-1547) six wives - Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

More people were executed in the Tower of London during the 20^thC than during the whole of the Tudor dynasty.

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/tower-green-scaffold-site

The Wars of The Roses

A Butt of Malmsey

In 1478 the royal prince the Duke of Clarence is supposed to have been drowned in a butt of malmsey wine¹ in the Bowyer Tower. The murder was ordered by his grace's brother the Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III).

Location: The Bowyer Tower

¹. Supposedly a rather good Malvasia from the east of Morea.

Henry VI

In 1471 King Henry I was murdered in the Tower of London. Supposedly, while had been at prayer.

The Princes In The Tower

King Edward V and his brother Richard Duke of York were the sons of the King Edward IV. Their uncle King Richard III had them declared illegitimate by an Act of Parliament. There are records of their being alive up until the summer of 1483. Thereafter, nothing is known of them. It is assumed that their uncle had them murdered in order that they should never be able to challenge his possession of the throne. In 1485 Richard's reign was ended when he was defeated by King Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth.

In 1674 renovation work was carried out on the White Tower. During this, the skeletons of two children were discovered. King Charles II ordered that these remains should be buried in Westminster Abbey. In 1933 they were examined. It was concluded that they were the remains of boys who would have been aged ten and twelve at the times of their deaths. That was how old the princes had been when they had disappeared.

Location: The White Tower.

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-princes-in-the-tower/gs.v5z593

Richard III

Website: www.richardiii.net (The Richard III Society)

The Western Gate

In 1239 King Henry III commissioned the construction of a gateway in the western wall of the Tower. The king's intention was to impress the City of London. The structure collapsed the following year. It was rebuilt but fell down again in 1241. The collapses were attributed to the vengeful ghost of St Thomas Becket (c.1120-1170). There was no further attempt to rebuild the section of wall as a gateway. With the passage of time, its exact location was forgotten. That it had existed was only known through a reference to it in a 13^thC chronicle.

In 1995 it was announced that members of the Oxford Archaeological Unit had unearthed the first physical evidence of the gateway.

See Also: GHOSTS; WALLS & GATEWAYS

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/media/1490/2016-03-31_tol_whsmanagementplan_v1.pdf (page 143)

The White Tower

When William the Conqueror constructed the White Tower, it was the largest fortress to have been built in England since the time of the Romans (the Anglo-Saxons had tended not to use stone in the construction of fortified buildings¹). The three-storey struccture's base was 105 ft. (32 m.) by 118 ft. (36 m.). It was constructed on a slight slope so that at 90 ft. (27m.) the southern side is taller than the northern. It contained the structure's original raised entrance. This was accessed by a wooden staircase that could be destroyed at short notice. The structure would have appeared particularly solid to Londoners because its wooden pitched roof was not visible from the ground. Therefore, it appeared to have thicker walls than it actually had.

It was Henry III who had its exterior painted white.

A fourth storey was added in the 15^thC.

In the 17^th and 18^thC much of the Caen stone was replaced by Portland stone. The latter was being widely used by the. Most of the windows were enlarged during the same period.

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/white-tower

¹. The Anglo-Saxons mostly used wood for religious buildings. However, on occasion they did use stone. The second St Paul's Cathedral, work on which started c.680, was probably built of stone.

The Word

The password that is used within the Tower is issued by the Ministry of Defence. It is changed daily.

Website: www.householddivision.org.uk/guard-at-the-tower

Yeoman Warders

Originally, the Yeoman Warders were members of the Yeomen of the Guard, the monarch s personal bodyguard who always accompanied. King Henry VIII (d.1547) decreed that they should be stationed permanently at the Tower.

At full strength, there 35. They are all former service personnel who have spent at least 22 years in the military and who have good conduct medals. There are 35 Yeoman Warders. They all live in the Tower. They are known as Beefeaters; this was a 17^thC name for a well-fed domestic servant.

In time, they were augmented by regular serving soldiers, who are also stationed in the Tower. As a result, the Beefeaters's activities became increasingly ceremonial in character. They wear red state dress uniforms for major occasions

In 2007 Moira Campbell became the first woman to be a Warder. She feminised her uniform by having pink braces. (These were not visible.)

See Also: GIN Beefeater Gin

Website: www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/yeoman-warders-at-the-tower-of-london

David Backhouse 2024