Tower of London
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The Tower of London, seen from the River Thames, with a view of the water gate called "Traitors Gate." |
The
Tower of London is a landmark in central
Londonâ€"in the
London Borough of Tower Hamletsâ€"just outside the
City of London.
The
White Tower, the square building with
turrets on each corner that gave it its name, is actually in the middle of a complex of several buildings along the
River Thames in
London, which have served as fortresses, armories, treasuries, zoos/menageries, mints, palaces, places of execution, public records offices, observatories, shelters, and prisons (particularly for
upper class prisoners). This last use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower" meaning "imprisoned". One widely known example was that
Elizabeth I was imprisoned for a time in the Tower during her sister
Mary's reign.
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The 15th century Tower in a manuscript of poems by Charles, Duke of Orléans (1391-1465) commemorating his imprisonment there (British Library) |
According to
Shakespeare, in his play
Richard III, the Tower of London was first built by
Julius Caesar. This supposed
Roman origin is, however, just a myth.Its true foundation was in
1078 when
William the Conqueror ordered the White Tower to be built. This was as much to protect the
Normans from the people of the
City of London as to protect London from outside invaders. William ordered the Tower to be built of stone which he had specially imported from France. He chose this location because he considered it to be a strategic point being opposite the site where
Earl Godwin had landed in
Southwark in 1051 during his
Saxon rebellion against the Norman influence of
Edward the Confessor. It was King
Richard the Lionheart who had the
moat dug around the surrounding wall and filled with water from the Thames. The moat was not very successful until
Henry III employed a
Dutch moat building technique. The moat was drained in 1830, and human bones were in the refuse found at its bottom.
The Menagerie
A Royal was established at the Tower in the
13th century, possibly as early as 1204 during the reign of
King John, and probably stocked with animals from an earlier menagerie started in
1125 by
Henry I at his palace in
Woodstock, near
Oxford. Its year of origin is often stated as
1235, when
Henry III received a wedding gift of three leopards (so recorded, although they may have been lions) from
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1264 they were moved to the Bulwark, which was duly renamed the Lion Tower, near the main western entrance. It was opened as an occasional public spectacle in the reign of
Elizabeth I. A lion skull was radiocarbon dated to between 1280 and 1385, making it the earliest medieval big cat known in Britain. [
1]
By 1804, the menagerie was regularly open to the public. This was where
William Blake saw the
tiger which may have inspired his poem
The Tyger. The menagerie's last director, Alfred Cops, who took over in 1822, found the collection in a dismal state, but restocked it and issued an illustrated scientific catalogue. The menagerie was not to last because the new
London Zoo was due to open in
Regent's Park. Partly for commercial reasons and partly for
animal welfare, the animals were moved to the zoo. The last of the animals left in 1835, and most of the Lion Tower was demolished soon after, although Lion Gate remains.
Executions
:
Lower-class criminals were usually executed by hanging at one of the public execution sites outside the Tower. Several high-profile convicts, such as
Thomas More, were publicly executed on
Tower Hill. Nobles (especially ladies) were sometimes beheaded privately on Tower Green, inside the complex, and then buried in the "
Chapel Royal of
St. Peter ad Vincula" (Latin for "in chains," making him an appropriate patron saint for prisoners) next to the Green. Some of the nobles who were executed outside the Tower are also buried in that chapel. (
External link to Chapel webpage) Persons beheaded inside the Tower for treason include the following
*
William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (
1483)
*
Anne Boleyn (
1536)
*
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (
1541)
*
Catherine Howard (
1542)
*
Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford (
1542)
*
Lady Jane Grey (
1554)
*
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (
1601)
The Queen Anne Boleyn, beheaded in 1536 for treason against King Henry VIII, is said to be occasionally seen walking around the tower carrying her head under her arm.
George, Duke of Clarence, the brother of
Edward IV of England, was executed for treason in the Tower in February
1478, but not by beheading (and probably not by being drowned in a butt of
Malmsey wine, despite what
Shakespeare wrote). Edward IV's two sons, the
Princes in the Tower, may also have died there after their uncle
Richard III became king, but they were not executed for conviction of any crime, and what happened to them is still a mystery.
The last execution in the Tower of London was in
1941, when German army sergeant
Josef Jakobs was executed by
firing squad for
espionage.
Recent History
The military use of the Tower as a fortification, like that of other such
castles, became obsolete with the introduction of
artillery. However the Tower did serve as the headquarters of the
Board of Ordnance until 1855, and the Tower was still occasionally used as a prison, even through both World Wars. In 1780, the Tower held its only
American prisoner, former
President of the
Continental Congress,
Henry Laurens. In
World War I, 11
German spies were shot in the Tower.
Irish rebel
Roger Casement was imprisoned in the Tower during his trial on treason charges in
1916.
Josef Jakobs became the last German
spy to be shot on
August 15,
1941 during
World War II. In the following year,
Hitler's deputy,
Rudolf Hess, was imprisoned for 4 days. During this time,
RAF Wing Commander George Salaman,
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Reconstruction of the interior of the Bloody Tower |
impersonating a
Luftwaffe Officer, was placed in the same cell as Hess and though acting as a
stool pigeon, George Salaman remains the last Englishman to be locked in the Tower of London. Waterloo Barracks, the current location of the
Crown Jewels, remained in use as a base for the
1st Battalion Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) into the 1950s; during 1952 the
Kray twins were briefly held there for failing to report for national service, making them among the last prisoners of the Tower; the last British citizen held for any length of time was the traitorous Army officer
Norman Baillie-Stewart from 1933 to 1937.
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Sentries being posted at the Tower of London |
Anne Askew is the only woman on record to have been tortured in the tower after being taken there in
1546.
Although it is no longer occupied by the Royal Family, the Tower officially remains a royal residence, and as such, maintains a permanent Guard - this is found by the unit forming the
Queen's Guard at
Buckingham Palace. Two sentries are maintained during the hours that the Tower is open, with one stationed outside the
Jewel House and one outside the
Queen's House.
In 1974, there was a bomb explosion in the mortar room in the White tower leaving one person dead and 41 injured. No one claimed responsibility for the blast, however the police were investigating suspicions that the IRA was behind it.
Administration
The Tower of London and its surrounding area has always had a separate administration from the adjacent City of London. It was, anciently, under the jurisdiction of
Constable of the Tower who also held authority over the
Tower liberties until
1894. In addition the Constable was
ex-officio Lord Lieutenant of the
Tower division of
Middlesex until
1889, and head of the Tower Hamlets
Militia until
1871.
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The Middle Tower (centre) guards the outer perimeter entrance across the (now) dry moat |
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The White Tower and courtyard |
The Tower can be described as a "
palimpsest". The oldest visible structure is the White Tower (which is 11th century); other elements added over the centuries are evident, right up to modern additions, most of which cater for the tourist or security needs.
The Tower today is principally a tourist attraction. Besides the buildings themselves, the British
Crown Jewels, a fine armour collection from the
Royal Armouries, and a remnant of the wall of the
Roman fortress are on display.
The tower is manned by the
Yeomen Warders (known as
Beefeaters), who act as tour guides, provide discreet security, and are something of a tourist attraction in their own right. Every evening, the warders participate in the
Ceremony of the Keys, as the Tower is secured for the night.
In deference to
an ancient legend, a number of
ravens are fed at the Tower at government expense; so long as the ravens remain at the Tower (which is ensured by trimming the flight feathers of the ravens), Britain is safe from invasion. Legend also says that should the ravens leave the Tower of London, the White Tower will crumble and the Monarch will fall, thus, the ravens are the
palladium of the realm. The names of the eight ravens currently in the tower are Gwylum,
Thor,
Hugine,
Munin,
Branwen, Bran, Gundulf, and Baldrick. In 2006, ahead of the H5N1 avian flu scare, the ravens were moved indoors, and have since remained there.
The Tower includes the following towers, listed in alphabetic order:
*
Beauchamp Tower*
Bell Tower*
Bloody Tower (or the Garden Tower)
*
Bowyer Tower*
Brick Tower*
Broad Arrow Tower*
Byward Tower*
Constable Tower*
Cradle Tower*
Develin Tower*
Deveraux Tower*
Flint Tower*
Lanthorn Tower*
Martin Tower*
Middle Tower*
St. Thomas's Tower*
Salt Tower*
Wakefield Tower*
Wardrobe Tower*
Well Tower*
White TowerThe Crown Jewels have been kept at the Tower of London since 1303 after they were stolen from
Westminster Abbey. It is thought that most, if not all, were recovered shortly afterwards. After the coronation of Charles II, they were locked away and shown for a viewing fee paid to a custodian. However, this arrangement ended when Colonel
Thomas Blood stole the Crown Jewels after having bound and gagged the custodian. Thereafter, the Crown Jewels were kept in a part of the Tower known as Jewel House, where armed guards defend them. They were temporarily taken out of the Tower. It was reported that they were secretly kept in the basement vaults of the
Sun Life Insurance company in
Montreal,
Canada, during
World War II, along with the gold bullion of the
Bank of England. However it has also been said that they were kept in the Round Tower of
Windsor Castle, or the
Fort Knox Bullion Depository in the
United States.
The Tower is located at the eastern boundary of the
City of London financial district, adjacent to the
River Thames and
Tower Bridge. Between the river and the Tower is Tower Wharf, a freely accessible walkway with excellent views of the river, tower and bridge, together with
HMS Belfast and
London City Hall on the opposite bank.
The nearest public transport locations are:
*
Tower Hill tube station (
London Underground District and Circle lines)
*
Tower Gateway DLR station (
Docklands Light Railway)
*
Fenchurch Street railway station (
National Rail)
*
Tower Millennium Pier (river cruise boats)
*
St Katherine's Dock (
Thames Clipper commuter boats)
*The Tower of London, as a place of death, darkness and treachery, is most famously evoked in
William Shakespeare's play,
Richard III, where it forms the backdrop of a tyrant's rise to power and the scene of the notorious murder of the
Princes in the Tower, amongst other victims (see above).
*This horror is reprised in the novel
Tower of London (1840) by
William Harrison Ainsworth.
*
Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom*
London Wall*
Ceremony of the Keys*
Newgate Prison*
Fleet Prison*
Virtual Tour of The Tower of London*
Tower-of-London.org.uk*
London Pass: Tower of London*
Authorised Guide to the Tower of London by
W. J. Loftie, circa 1904, from
Project Gutenberg*
BBC item on ravens, dated 2005-08-25*
Tower of London Virtual Reality image of the Tower of London at Night
*
History of the Tower of London* Bennett, Edward Turner,
The Tower Menagerie: Comprising the Natural History of the Animals Contained in that Establishment; with Anecdotes of their Characters and History, London, Robert Jennings, 1829
* A DVD box set of the excellent
Channel 4 documentary series 'The Tower' was released in June 2005.
* "1974: Bomb blast at the Tower of London", BBC News, 17 July 1974 [
2]
