Authorised Guide to the Tower of London | Page 2

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 and finds himself in a well-lighted circular apartment in the Wakefield Tower. The deep window recess opposite the door was fitted up as a small chapel, with Aumbry, Piscina, and Sedilia. Tradition says that Henry VI used it for his devotions when a prisoner in the Tower, and was