Castle of the Week - The Tower of London - 1547-today
| Edward VI followed his father to the throne and continued the executions. His protector, the Duke of Somerset was executed in 1552 having been falsely accused of treason. When Edward died, Lady Jane Grey claimed the throne and became the uncrowned queen for 9 days. She and her husband were kept, as many important prisoners were, in the Beauchamp Tower prior to their execution in 1554. |
 Plan of the castle as it was in 1547 at the end of Henry VIII's reign |
Edward’s sister, Mary I, was still Catholic, so it was the Protestants’ turn to fear for their lives. Her own sister (who later became Elizabeth I) was imprisoned, under suspicion of plotting against Mary, for 8 weeks in 1554. When Elizabeth came to the throne, the religious direction of the country turned back, once again, to Protestant and Catholics were again persecuted.
 The Tower was full of imprisoned clergy and aristocracy, some remaining there for years. In 1603 Sir Walter Raleigh, courtier and explorer, was imprisoned there (in some comfort) in the Wardrobe and Brick Towers. He was released thirteen years later but was executed by James I in 1618. James was also responsible for the torture and interrogation of Guy Fawkes in the Queen’s House before he signed a confession and was executed for trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament; this is still commemorated all over Britain on 5th November by Bonfire Night. |
The Parliamentarians seized the Tower during the Civil War in 1643. It remained in their hands throughout the war and a permanent garrison was installed there for the first time.
 When the monarchy was restored in 1660 and Charles II became King, the Tower’s role as prison declined and it became the headquarters of the Office of Ordnance and was used as an armoury. Many alterations were made to the grounds for this change. He built 2 reinforced corners to the curtain wall, with the aim of being able to accommodate 90 heavy guns round the walls. The Crown Jewels were displayed publicly for the first time and the ravens arrived. These birds (which now have their wings clipped) were supposed only to leave if the Tower and England itself were going to be defeated. |
During the restorations, the skeletons of two children were found which were believed to be the two young princes. The King had them reburied in Westminster Abbey and the Garden Tower, where they were found, became known as the Bloody Tower. The Great Fire of London in 1666 almost reached the Tower. When the westward winds stopped, the fire rushed towards the castle. Firefighters used barrels of gunpowder to blow up houses surrounding it and the Tower was saved. In 1668 it served as a prison for William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, imprisoned for life for blasphemy but released after six months after intervention by the Duke of York.
 A final refortification of the castle took place in the 1840s when there was fear of civil unrest by the Chartists. New gun emplacements were built and a huge bastion built on the north side (this was one of the casualties of the Blitz). After a devastating fire started in a stove in 1841, which all but destroyed the Brick, Bowyer and Flint Towers, they were rebuilt and slight alterations were made to the siting of them to enable the Waterloo Barracks to be built. The barracks were big enough to house 1000 soldiers, and the building is now called the Jewel House and has been used to house the Crown Jewels since 1967 . The foundation stone was laid by the Duke of Wellington and the cannons that can still be seen in front of the building were captured from the French at Waterloo. In the end, these precautions were unnecessary but the outer defences have remained. |
 During the 19th century, the Tower was considered in a historical light for the first time and many of the changes since the Restoration were demolished as they tried to make it medieval again. The moat was filled in and some of the state facilities were moved out to enable there to be more for tourists to see. The Royal Mint went in 1810; the zoo remained until 1834 when the animals were moved to Regents Park where they became the nucleus of London Zoo; in the 1850s, the state records were moved from the Wakefield Tower and the White Tower’s chapel to a new Public Records Office. The Wakefield Tower was adapted to receive the Crown Jewels in 1879. The Tower of London became a major tourist attraction (although there had been visitors since the mid 1600s) and, by the beginning of the 20th century, there were half a million visitors every year. |
 The First World War brought the Tower back into use as a prison. Eleven spies were imprisoned and executed there. The final execution to take place at the Tower was in 1940 during the Second World War and Rudolph Hess, Hitler’s deputy, was imprisoned in the Queen’s House for a while. Bomb damage in the First World War was limited to one bomb which fell in the moat. The Blitz and V-rocket bombings during the Second World War produced considerably more damage. As mentioned previously, the North Bastion had a direct hit in 1940 and was destroyed; the Hospital Block was partly destroyed and another 19th century building, the Main Guard, was obliterated by incendiary bombs. During the war, the moat was dug up and used as allotments for growing vegetables. |
 Nowadays it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world and was recognised as such in 1988 when it became a World Heritage Site. 2.5 million visitors a year come through its gates. It’s not just a museum, as many of the Yeoman Warders and other workers live there and it’s not unusual to see drying washing adorning some of the towers. |
The Tower of London 1066-1272
The Tower of London 1272-1547
This has been an extremely potted history of one of the greatest castles in the world and I would advise anyone interested to do some more reading on the subject or, better still, to visit it.
Write-up provided by GillB* . Pictures courtesy of Castles of the World (those marked as such); GillB* (the Beefeater, Raven & Wardrobe remains) and Civis Romanus* (the rest).
A map of the Tower of London is included in the official Excalibur Pack download.