Authorised Guide to the Tower of London | Page 2

and Bell Towers, the residences of the Lieutenant of the

Tower and of the Yeoman Gaoler being in the gabled and red tiled
houses between the last two. From one of these windows Lady Jane
Grey saw her husband's headless body brought in from Tower Hill, by
the route we now traverse; and the leads are still called Queen
Elizabeth's Walk, as she used them during her captivity in 1554.
The Lion Tower stood where the Ticket Office and Refreshment Room
are now. Here the visitor obtains a pass which admits him to see the
Regalia, or Crown Jewels, and another for the Armoury. In the Middle
Ages and down to 1834 the Royal Menagerie was lodged in a number
of small buildings near the Lion Tower, whence its name was derived
and the saying arose, "seeing the lions," for a visit to the Tower. Where
the wooden gate now stands, there was a small work called the
Conning Gate. It marked the boundaries of Middlesex and the Tower
Precinct. Here prisoners were handed over to the Sheriff.
The Middle Tower (Pl. I)
was originally built by Henry III, but has been entirely refaced.
Through its archway we reach the stone bridge, which had formerly in
the centre a drawbridge of wood. We next reach
The Byward Tower (Pl. II),
the great Gatehouse of the Outer Ward. It is in part the work of Henry
III, and in part that of Richard II. Observe the vaulting and the dark
recesses on the southern side. We pass on the left
The Bell Tower (Pl. IX),
which may safely be attributed to the reign of King John. Here Fisher,
Bishop of Rochester, was imprisoned by Henry VIII, and the Princess
Elizabeth by her sister, Queen Mary. The "Curtain Wall," of great
antiquity, is pierced by the windows of the Lieutenant's Lodgings, now
called "The King's House," and one of these windows lights the
Council Chamber, where Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators were
tried and condemned, 1605.

_The Traitors' Gate_ (Pl. IV),
with St. Thomas's Tower, is now on our right. Observe the masonry
which supports the wide span of the arch. This gate, when the Thames
was more of a highway than it is at present, was often used as an
entrance to the Tower. St. Thomas' Tower was built by Henry III, and
contains a small chapel or oratory dedicated to St. Thomas of
Canterbury. In later times it was found convenient as a landing place
for prisoners who had been tried at Westminster; and here successively
Edward Duke of Buckingham (1521), Sir Thomas More, Queen Anne
Boleyn, Cromwell Earl of Essex, Queen Katharine Howard (1542)
Seymour Duke of Somerset (1551), Lady Jane Grey, the Princess
(afterwards Queen) Elizabeth, Devereux Earl of Essex (1601), and
James Duke of Monmouth, passed under the arch on their way to a
prison or the scaffold. Opposite is
The Bloody Tower (Pl. VIII),
which is believed to derive its name from the suicide in it of Henry
Percy, eighth Earl of Northumberland, in 1585. Under this Tower we
enter the Inner Ward. It dates from the reigns of Edward III and
Richard II, and was called by its present name as early as 1597, being
popularly believed to be the scene of the murder of Edward V and his
brother the Duke of York, as well as of Henry VI. It was originally
known as the Garden Tower, as its upper storey opens on that part of
the parade ground which was formerly the Constable's Garden. Here
Sir Walter Raleigh was allowed to walk during his long imprisonment,
and could sometimes converse over the wall with the passers-by.
Observe the grooves for working the massive portcullis, which was
raised by chains and a windlass. These still exist on the upper floor.
Immediately adjoining the gateway on the east is the
Wakefield Tower (Pl. III).
Its lower storey is the oldest building next to the Keep; it was, with the
Lanthorn (rebuilt on the old foundation in 1884-5) and Cold Harbour
Towers, part of the original Norman plan. The upper storey was rebuilt
by Henry III, who made it the entrance to his palace on the east. The

Great Hall, memorable as the scene of Anne Boleyn's trial, adjoined it,
but was pulled down during the Commonwealth. In 1360 the records of
the kingdom, which had previously been kept in the White Tower, were
removed here, and this is called in ancient surveys sometimes the
Record, and sometimes the Hall Tower. The present name is said to be
derived from the imprisonment of Yorkists after the Lancastrian victory
at Wakefield in 1460. It is used now for the safe keeping and exhibition
of
The Crown Jewels.
The visitor who has obtained a ticket passes up a short stair