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The Tower of London

The Tower has been involved in so many important historical events that a walk around it is, for someone interested in history, astonishing. Stories you've read about are suddenly made physical in a sequence of moody towers. The Tower was originally one of the many Norman forts built by William the Conqueror following his invasion from Normandy in 1066. In 1078 William ordered the building of a huge stone stronghold, to replace the earlier wooden fortification, which he named the Tower of London.The central White Tower was completed by 1100. Then in 1190 Richard the First instructed Chancellor Longchamp to improve the Tower defences. Work continued through the reigns of Richard's successors John and Henry the Third. From 1300 Edward the First expanded the Tower defenses still further, giving us roughly the Tower we know today.

Entering the castle at Byward Tower you walk into Water Lane. This marks the former position of the river Thames before it was pushed back to make way for the outer curtain walls. Following steps up onto the curtain walls beside the river, a walk takes you through the rule of Henry the Third and his son Edward the First, who ordered the building of this area. In the Wakefield Tower there is a video presentation describing Henry's struggle with England's powerful barons, led by Simon de Montfort. Simon de Montfort is sometimes credited with being the originator of Parliament, after his Provisions of Oxford in 1258 forced limitations on the power of the monarchy. Three years after the Provisions of Oxford Henry the Third decided to fight back. He held court in the Wakefield Tower on the 22nd of March 1261, planning his strategy. By September he was back in power.

 

The Salt Tower

His son Edward the First was a ferocious king who had no trouble keeping the nobles under control. Walking into St Thomas's Tower, Traitor's Gate will be beneath you. This gate, originally opening directly to the river, was built by Edward between 1275 and 1279, and is a powerful symbol of his ruthless authority. People would have come in by boat, appearing in the castle at the lowest level. Anyone coming in by this route would have looked up to see accusing eyes staring down at them from above. In St Thomas's Tower itself are the rooms where Edward held court. When I visited a video presentation described the rule of Edward, and the king's bedroom has been recreated. Along the wall from St Thomas's Tower you come to the Salt Tower. It was here that John Balliol, king of Scotland was held. Balliol was an appointee of Edward. When the Scottish king had the temerity to suggest he might think for himself, he was ritually humiliated at Kincardine castle by Edward, his royal insignia torn from his chest, before being confined to the Salt Tower.

 

Traitors' Gate

Further on around the wall the sequence of towers continues, each one giving an insight into a period of British history. In the Lower Bowyer Tower the Duke of Clarence is supposed to have been drowned in a barrel of malmsey wine after plotting against Edward the Fourth. This is a famous episode in Shakespeare's play Richard the Third. In this play the Tower appears almost as a character, symbolising both protection, and fearful restriction. When the young sons of Edward the Fourth are confined to the Tower by Richard the Third, their mother asks the walls of the castle to protect them. The young princes were kept in what is now known as the Bloody Tower. They disappeared, and were presumably executed. In Broad Arrow Tower Sir Everard Digby, one of the Gunpower Plotters has carved his name into the stone of the wall. The names of many catholic priests or sympathisers are here too, giving a poignant insight into the divisions that followed on from Henry the Eighth's decision to switch England's official religion from Catholicism to Protestantism. Back in Water Lane you would already have passed the Bell Tower, where Henry's chancellor Thomas Moore was probably held in 1534 after refusing to acknowledge Henry the Eighth as the supreme head of the Church of England. On Tower Green is the scaffold site where Anne Boleyn, the woman who caused Henry the Eighth to embrace Protestantism, was executed.

 

The Line of Kings

I walked round the Tower looking at all these things, along with hundreds of other people. Watching the crowds both inside and outside the walls I tried to imagine the scene of the Peasant's Revolt in 1381, when a young Richard the Second took shelter in the White Tower. June 13th 1381 was a day of riot, pillage and anarchy in London. After Richard went out to meet the rebels at Mile End the mob broke into the Tower and ran rampant around it. Archbishop Sudbury and Sir Robert Hales, Treasurer of England, were dragged out of St John's Chapel and beheaded on Tower Green. It is strange to see a distant echo of that day in the peaceful ambling of tourists, and in children running about. The Tower has actually been a tourist attraction open to the public for a very long time, and is perhaps one of the first ever historical locations to be treated in this way. When Charles the Second was restored to the throne in 1660 he used the Tower as a symbol of the continuity of monarchy. A display of weapons was created in the White Tower, and as part of this display Charles ordered the creation of the "Line of Kings." This consisted of a line of life size model horses beside a sequence of English kings represented by suits of royal armour. The Line of Kings can still be seen at the White Tower today, being viewed by tourists as it was in the seventeenth century. The crown jewels have also been on display at the Tower since the seventeenth century. Many of the stones in the present state crown were originally mounted in Charles the Second's crown.

Many other exhibitions and events are presented at the Tower, some of a temporary nature to coincide with topical themes. Continuity, however, is really what the Tower is all about. Every single night the Ceremony Of The Keys takes place, when the Yeoman Warders and the military guard lock the outer gates of the Tower of London and deliver the keys to the Resident Governor of the Tower. This has happened nightly for the last seven hundred years. Members of the public can attend this ceremony. Tickets are free but must be applied for in advance, giving two months notice, or three during July and August. Visitors are met by escort at precisely 9.30pm at the West Gate, and escorted to the ceremony. The ravens of the Tower can also be depended upon. These birds have lived at the Tower for hundreds of years, and legend has it that should the ravens ever leave the Tower, the White Tower will fall and a great disaster will befall England. Strangely the raven, which has always been considered a bird of ill-omen in English folk-lore, has become a lucky charm. There is now a full-time keeper making sure the ravens are well cared for. A fortress that was built by William the Conqueror as a stronghold for occupying forces, and became an almost mythically feared prison, is now, like the ravens, a national symbol viewed with affection.

St John's Chapel

There is definitely an ambivalence about the Tower, as Shakespeare realised. The military appearance of the Tower is reflected in the battlements of the Chapel Royal at the top of Tower Green. Physical and spiritual security are sought in buildings with the same architectural features. Churches are usually associated with peace, but they have the appearance of castles. And of course the reality of religious power is often far from peaceful. Much of the conflict commemorated at the Tower is religious conflict. Castles are usually associated with war, but they mimic churches, and can exist as peaceful and romantic fairylands, which in many ways is how the Tower now appears. In 1381 Archbishop Sudbury and Chancellor Hales sought their final sanctuary in St John's Chapel in the White Tower. They hoped the symbolism of the chapel would protect them when the physical security of the castle walls failed. It was a kind of last bastion. Symbolism continues to be important at the Tower today. In fact the symbolic role is now the only one that matters, just as it was in the days of Stonehenge and Avebury, when representational earth banks and standing stones provided spiritual security in a precarious world.

 

Tower Green

Opening Times: The Tower is open every day, except for the 24th - 26th December and the 1st of January. Opening hours are from 1st March to 31st October Tuesday to Saturday 9am - 6pm , Sunday and Monday 10am - 6pm. Last admission 5pm. From 1st November to 28th February Tuesday to Saturday 9am - 5pm and Sunday and Monday 10am - 5pm. Last admission 4pm.

Directions: Take Circle or District line to Tower Hill station, and then follow the signs. Circle and District Lines are subject to occasional closure. Check before hand, and as an alternative use Central and Northern Line to Bank station, or Jubilee and Northern line to London Bridge. Take the River Bus from Charing Cross, Westminster or Greenwich to Tower Pier. See the web site for up to date bus information. Click here for an interactive map centred on the Tower of London.

Access: as an historic building much of the Tower of London is inaccessible to people in wheelchairs. The Jewel House is accessible to all visitors. A limited number of wheelchairs are available for hire at the Group Ticket Office at the West Gate. Adapted toilet facilities are available behind the Jewel House. Improvements are constantly being made. Go to the web site www.hrp.org.uk for up to date information.

Contact:

telephone: +44 (0) 870 756 7070

web site: www.hrp.org.uk