removed, was constructed, it is said, by Edward III. The lower walls
were thick, and its south-east angle, which remains, seems to have been
rounded off, perhaps as a turret. It is evidently an addition, and had
nothing to do with any raised or covered entrance to the keep.
The inner ward is enclosed within a curtain wall, having four sides,
twelve mural towers, and a gatehouse. The base or longest side faces
the river. The east and west sides incline inwards, so that the north
face is narrower than the base. This face is broken by an obtuse angle,
having a central salient.
The level of much of this enclosure is 15 to 20 feet above that of the
outer ward. Possibly part of the clay from the ditch, excavated by
Longchamp, in the reign of Richard I., was here piled up. By reason
of this difference, the lower part of this ward wall is a revetment,
retaining the ground along the west and north, and part of the south
and east fronts. The inequality is seen at the gatehouse, the passage
through which rises one foot in ten to the middle of the ward; and,
at St. Martin’s Staircase, at the north-east corner. Where the palace
stood, from Wakefield to Salt Tower, the levels are nearly equal. This
ward is much encumbered with buildings, some of the age of Henry VIII.,
some later, while others have been lately removed. No doubt this ward
was always thus occupied, as the Tower was a depôt for all sorts of
military stores, and a residence for petty officers of the court and
garrison. In 1213, King John ordered to be salted and hung up “bacones
nostros qui sunt apud Turrim”; and, in 1224, he drew upon the Tower for
thirty dolia of wine; so that pigstyes and wine-stores formed a part
of its contents. Lead, and the more expensive building-materials, were
also kept here.
The Church of St. Peter ad Vincula, mentioned in the reign of John,
and rebuilt in the late Perpendicular period, still occupies the
north-west quarter of the ward. In the south-east quarter stood the
Royal Palace, destroyed, at various times, by James, Cromwell, or after
the Restoration. The keep in Norman castles was intended rather for
the occasional than the regular residence of the lord, whose ordinary
lodgings were more conveniently placed in the inner ward. This was
so at Rochester, in 1281, at Bamborough, Carlisle Porchester, and
elsewhere. Here the palace stood between the keep and the ward wall,
and, besides, had walls of its own; one crossing from Wakefield Tower
to the keep, where were drum-towers and a gateway known as Cold
Harbour, and another called the Wardrobe Gallery, crossing from Broad
Arrow Tower to the keep, and having upon it Wardrobe Tower, also
circular, with a circular turret. The Queen’s Gallery extended from
Salt to Lanthorn Tower, on the line of the curtain, and the great hall
was connected with Wakefield Tower. The whole space was occupied by
small courts and gardens, lodgings, and offices; and the buildings
in the reign of Henry III. seem to have encroached upon the outer
ward, where were two posterns for the service of the palace. These
buildings, after the manner of royal houses, were always under repair;
and seem to have absorbed much of the money expended on the Tower. The
main guardhouse stands on the site of Cold Harbour. The foundation
of the Queen’s Gallery and great hall have lately been laid open.
Norman masonry, part of the ward-wall, has also been discovered. In
the earlier surveys, the palace quarter is called the “Inner Ward.”
Cold Harbour was probably very lofty; for, in 1572, complaint was made
that Sir Owen Hopton, the lieutenant, allowed his prisoners to meet
and walk on the “leads of Cold Harbour”; and about that time the Earl
of Southampton stayed leaping upon the tower, his wife being on the
opposite side of the ditch.
Of the twelve mural towers of this ward one caps each of the five
angles. Two were intermediate on the south face, as two still are upon
the east, and two upon the north, one on each side of the salient.
The west, or shortest face, has one large intermediate tower. The
gatehouse, called the Bloody Tower, stands considerably west of
the centre of the south front, and opposite to Traitor’s Gate. It
is contiguous to Wakefield Tower, which flanks it on the east, and
probably determined its position and that of Traitor’s Gate.
Commencing with Wakefield, and passing westwards, the towers are,
Bloody, Bell, Beauchamp, Devereux, Flint, Bowyer, Brick, St. Martin’s
or Jewel, Constable’s, Broad-Arrow, Salt, and Lanthorn Tower, now
destroyed.
Wakefield Tower deserves very close attention, its lower story being
next to the keep in antiquity. It is also known as the Record Tower,
records having been kept there from an early period until a short time
ago. In the survey of Elizabeth it is called the Hall Tower, from its
proximity to the royal hall, destroyed during the Commonwealth.
It is in plan a cylinder of 50 feet diameter, and is about 50 feet
high. Its projection from the line of the south curtain is about 22
feet. Whether it was originally intended to cap an angle, is uncertain.
No doubt the curtains from Lanthorn Tower on the east, and Cold Harbour
on the north, abutted upon it on two faces, and were coëval with
it; but it is unknown whether the third curtain from the west, now
replaced by the gatehouse, was of the same date; and, in fact, whether
the original design included the present inner ward.
This tower has two, and had three, stages. The basement, the floor of
which is upon the ground level, contains an octagon chamber, 23 feet
from face to face, with walls 13 feet 6 inches thick. In each face is
a recess, 6 feet broad, having a semicircular head, the edge of which
has a double chamfer, with an angular recess between. The northern and
the three southern recesses are 8 feet deep, and have a flat end also
6 feet across, so that there is no splay. In the end is an opening,
round-headed, and about 4 feet across, which contracts rapidly to a
loophole. The north-east and north-west recesses are 7 feet and 6 feet
deep, and are blank, without loops. The west recess is only 2 feet 6
inches deep, and was probably closed when the Bloody Tower was built.
The eastern recess is the present entrance, but the curtain must have
abutted on this side, so that it is not improbable that the original
entrance was in the north-eastern recess. The chamber is, however, so
dark, and the recesses so obscured and encumbered by stores and brick
walls, that it is difficult to examine them minutely.
[Illustration: BLOODY AND WAKEFIELD TOWERS.—BASEMENT.]
The chamber is 10 feet high. It has a flat timber covering, which,
if not original, is very old, and may well represent the original.
Probably it actually dates from the rebuilding of the upper story, in
the reign of Henry III. In the centre of the chamber, upon a plain
stone cheese-like base, is set up an oak post, 18 inches square, with
the angles taken off. Upon this rest two beams, 11 inches square, at
right angles, crossing the chamber east and west, and north and south.
Parallel to the former, 2 feet from it on each side, are two other
similar beams also crossing the chamber. There are, therefore, left
outside these beams, and divided by the north and south beam, four
quadrants, and these are filled up each with five beams, also 11 inches
square, which radiate fan-like towards the walls, where all seem to
have rested upon a stone ledge or wall-plate. The radiating beams are
mortised into the main beams. All this work is original. These timbers
have rotted at the wall ends, and to support them, and the load of
records above them, two octagonal frames have been placed beneath, one
close to the wall, and one half-way between the walls and the central
post, and these are supported each by eight props, so that the interior
of the chamber is disfigured by a regular forest of seventeen posts.
East of this tower the foundation of the old curtain has been laid open.
Since these lines were written, all this timber work has been swept
away, and the tower has been converted into the jewel office. On the
north-east side of the tower is a later well-stair, 6 feet 6 inches
diameter, which ascends to the first floor and the battlements.
This upper or first floor, also an octagon chamber, is of 30 feet
diameter, and has a recess in seven of its eight faces. Of these
three to the south, and that to the north-west, terminate in modern
enlargements of the old windows, as does that of the west, of which the
opening is skewed, to avoid the Bloody Tower. In the north face is a
fireplace, probably representing an original one. The north-east recess
is closed at 4 feet deep, and that to the east is occupied by two
openings; one, the present door, evidently not original; close north of
which, beneath a drop arch, is the original entrance from the palace,
5 feet 5 inches broad, and at 2 feet 6 inches deep reduced to 4 feet
broad, where it forms a lofty doorway, now closed. These recesses have
each a drop arch, supported by a plain chamfered rib.
The south-east recess was intended for an oratory, and its sides are
produced inwards by two walls, buttressed in tabernacle work at their
west ends, and connected above by a bold plain drop arch, rather light,
and flatter than the rest. This no doubt is the chapel mentioned in
1238. It is possible that the recess to the north-east was the royal
door, and that the narrow eastern opening led to the stair and to the
rampart of the curtain.
The south recess also differs from the rest, in having within it a
second rib, of 3 feet opening, as though above a doorway, and the
opening is twisted to bring it opposite to the door of St. Thomas’s
Tower, between which openings, 18 feet apart, there was evidently
either a cross-wall or a light bridge, giving a short cut from the
palace to the ramparts of the water-gate.
The intention was to vault this chamber, and in each angle is a
semi-octagon pier, with a rude base, and without a cap. The total
height of the ceiling, now flat, is 25 feet, so that the vault was to
have had a high pitch with eight cells. It is clear that this never was
executed.
This tower has now undergone complete restoration, all the interior
fittings have been cleared out, the masonry laid bare, and the two
floors vaulted, and the bridge suggested as having led to St. Thomas’s
Tower has been actually built.
[Illustration: PALACE ENTRANCE. WAKEFIELD TOWER. ORATORY.]
A line of blocked-up arches in the outer wall shows that an uppermost
story was contemplated, and probably constructed, since in St.
Thomas’s Tower is a second or upper door, evidently intended for a
second bridge, or a passage along a cross rampart, above that already
mentioned.
The arch-rings within, and the whole of the basement story without, of
this tower, are of finely-jointed ashlar, and it appears from the decay
of some of the stones, and from other indications, that the joints were
not mere face-work, but were equally fine through the whole depth of
each outer stone, a degree of precision not common now, and rare at any
age. The upper story is of uncoursed rubble. It has been pointed and
stuck over with chips of flint, but the acute relieving arches over the
windows are seen, both of the first and second floor. The parapet is
of brick, and encrusts an older wall of stone.
The basement of Wakefield Tower is probably late Norman, perhaps of the
reign of Stephen, or Henry II., although this is no doubt early for
masonry so finely jointed. The superstructure is early in the reign of
Henry III., perhaps 1220–30, as in 1238 mention is made of the chapel
in the new tower next the hall, and towards the Thames. The records
of the realm were lodged in the New Temple as late as 20 Edward I.,
but 33 Edward I., they were in the Tower, no doubt the keep, whence
“extra magnam turrim,” to make room for King John of France, they were
removed, 1360, probably to this tower. In August of that year the clerk
of the works was to repair the roof, doors, and windows of the house
provided for the records, and this is repeated next year for the tower
in which are the Chancery rolls.
The Wakefield Tower was the subject of a restoration in 1867, when
all its modern disfigurements were removed, and the original masonry
exposed. The brick casing was stripped from the parapet, the roof taken
down, the interior fittings cleared away, and the brick and stone work
with which the loops, enlarged into windows, had been made good, was
removed.
The clearance included certain public garderobes, built against the
north face of the tower, and a private garderobe, niched into the
junction with the Bloody Tower, and thus was shown the original base of
the latter, and the remains of a bold cordon encircling it 6 feet from
the ground. Here also was exposed a loop and a curious hole, about 3
feet diameter, and 3 feet or 4 feet deep, of doubtful use. Besides the
removal of these additions, the timber work of the ground-floor was
cleared out, and the double circle of posts shown to be of modern date,
inserted to support the additional weight of the records. The timbers
of the ceiling were original. The main beams of oak, 6 feet by 6 feet,
went deep into the wall, and were evidently laid when the upper floor
was added by Henry III. They rested upon fragments of early roofing
tiles.
The central post, also of oak, was found to stand upon a plain stone
cylinder 2 feet 6 inches diameter and 3 feet 6 inches high. This again
rested upon a thick square slab of oak, which was placed upon the head
of a short pile, only partially decayed. Beneath the floor was laid 2
feet of broken tiles, and below this, gravel, so charged with moisture
that a pit sunk 5 feet stood with 2 feet of water.
Of the arched recesses the masonry was sound, save a crack in the
spandrels of that to the west. It was clear that the three southern
recesses had contained original loops. That to the west seemed to have
been walled up when the Bloody Tower was built. The northern recess
was different, as though the loop had been lifted on account of the
exterior ground having been raised.
The vaulting ribs of the first floor did not seem to have been
completed. The north-western recess had been a fireplace, which the
original herring-bone fire-back showed to have been very shallow, so
as to require a hood, which two holes in the wall indicated to have
been of timber. The south-eastern aperture was double. There was a
small window with a drop arch and hollow chamfer, and steps up to it,
and by its side a doorway pointing to the Water Tower, and no doubt
intended to open on a small bridge.
The eastern recess now shows the oratory. The original window was
narrow and drop pointed. On the wall are traces of fresco painting.
There is also a piscina and a locker, and on each side a recess as for
a sedile. That in the north wall has been cut as though for a doorway.
The original door to this floor seems to have been in the north-east
side.
There was evidently a floor above this. In the exterior wall are some
cylindrical holes about 2 feet deep and 2 inches diameter. Their use is
not clear. There were gurgoyles below the embrasures of the parapet.
It is well to rebuild the bridge to the Water Tower, but to vault the
ground-floor would be a mistake. The lower floor covering was always
timber, and of a curious pattern. It should be replaced.
The Bloody Tower is the gatehouse of the inner ward. It stands in the
south front, west of the centre, opposite to the earlier Traitor’s
Gate, and it abuts against the also earlier Wakefield Tower. The
exterior face ranges with the curtain. Its position was no doubt
determined by the Traitor’s Gate, and by the advantages offered by the
flanking defence of Wakefield Tower on the outside, and Cold Harbour
Wall on the inside.
It is rectangular or nearly so in plan, 25 feet broad and 38 feet deep,
and pierced by a vaulted passage, the axis of which has a twist to the
east. It is of three stages, and 47 feet high from the outer gate cill
to the parapet, which is modern, and of brick.
The portal, 15 feet wide, opens under a low-browed drop arch, 8 feet
high at the spring, and 14 feet at the crown; 3 feet 6 inches within
the entrance is a 6-inch portcullis groove, working through the vault
in a chase 2 feet 6 inches broad, so as to admit a heavy wooden
frame. Then follows a double chamfered gateway, reducing the passage
to 11 feet 8 inches. Next is the body of the gatehouse, 21 feet long
and vaulted, having a pair of gates at each end, and on the right
a porter’s lodge. The inner pair of gates are succeeded by another
chamfered gateway of 11 feet opening, and this by a second portcullis,
with a chase only 1 foot 4 inches broad, followed by a portal of 15 ft.
opening. The passage rises about one foot in ten, and this rise, giving
a great advantage to the defenders, is continued to a point opposite to
the White Tower, where it ends in a short flight of steps.
The vaulted space occupying the central part of the passage is about
22 feet long by 13 feet broad, and is divided into two not quite equal
bays. The vaulting ribs spring from four corner and two intermediate
corbels, representing lions’ heads, each supporting an octangular
bracket.
Each bay is divided by four main hip ribs into four cells, and along
the axis of each cell is a ridge rib, longitudinal and transverse.
These cells are subdivided each by a secondary rib, springing also
from the six corbels, and, with the ridge rib, dividing each cell into
four compartments. Thus, besides the two wall half-ribs, from each
intermediate corbel spring seven ribs, and from each angle corbel three
ribs.
There are no regular bosses, but at each point of intersection the ribs
abut upon an open circle, the centre of which is occupied by a lion’s
face, dropped in from above. There are, therefore, three main and eight
smaller circles, besides six half-circles at the junction of the ridge
and wall-ribs. The ribs and circles, though of one pattern, are of two
sizes. All have been clumsily cobbled with Roman cement.
The porter’s lodge, on the east side of the entrance, is a vaulted
chamber, 10 feet square, with a window of two lights, no doubt
replacing a loop towards the south or front. A door, now closed, on its
north side, seems to have led into a staircase to the upper floors.
About 4 feet of this lodge is excavated in the thickness of the wall of
Wakefield Tower.
The entrance-way, on passing the gatehouse, lies between a retaining
wall on the left, or west, and the main guard, which supersedes Cold
Harbour wall, on the right. A modern staircase, no doubt representing
an old one, ascends in the substance of the west wall, and opens on the
parade before the constable’s house, and here also is the entrance to
the first floor of the gatehouse.
This is by a Decorated, or early Perpendicular door, leading into a
chamber 28 feet by 18 feet, having a large double-light window in
the west wall by the door, and in the east wall a loop towards Cold
Harbour, and a passage which, through a Caernarvon-headed door, leads
into a small vaulted and ribbed garderobe on the left, and onward into
what is no doubt the well-stair from below, now closed; and which seems
to have ascended to the roof.
This, which was the portcullis chamber, has also windows at either end
over the portals, and across its south end a low four-centred arch, in
which are fastened two sheaves carrying the portcullis, which rises
through a chase in the floor, and is lifted by a rude long wooden
windlass worked by three sets of capstan bars.
The northern portcullis was lighter, and perhaps never actually
inserted. The only trace of its working arrangements is a part of a
flat-topped recess, from which it might have been suspended.
An upper floor, reached by a well-stair cut in the wall between this
and the Wakefield Tower, contains a room 25 feet long by 18 feet broad,
at the south end of which is walled off a passage 26 feet long by 4
feet broad, at the west end of which a door, now walled up, opened
upon the ramparts, showing that this curious passage made a part of
the rampart walk, which accounts for a door and loop which opens upon
it from the gatehouse upper floor. The well-stair is continued to the
leads of the tower, 10 feet above the curtain.
The doors, window, and portcullis arch in the first floor, all have a
deep bold quarter-circle hollow, replacing the angle, instead of the
usual chamfer.
This gatehouse is generally attributed to Edward III., who may have
constructed it in the later part of his reign; or it may be the work of
Richard II. The vaulting and portcullis-arch appear of later date than
the walls, but the whole is probably of the transition period between
Decorated and Perpendicular.
In the survey of Henry VIII. this is called the Garden Tower, being
close to the constable’s garden, now the parade. In the survey of 1597,
it is called by its present name; and popular prejudice, rather than
Tower tradition, has attributed that name to the murder of the sons of
Edward IV., idly said to have been perpetrated here.
[Illustration: BELL TOWER.—BASEMENT.]
As Garden Tower, this building was a well-known Tudor prison. From
hence to Bell Tower, 150 feet, the original curtain remains, of its
full height of about 40 feet, and its base thickness about 10 feet. It
is, however, so defaced outside, and inside so encrusted with houses
of the Tudor period, that but little of its detail can be seen. It is
pretty clear that there is no range of loopholes in its substance. A
cell, recently a stable, is really a Tudor brick vault built against it.
Near to Bell Tower is an original mural chamber, probably a garderobe,
lighted by a recess and loop. This recess shows the original wall,
about 7 feet thick; and an interior addition of 3 feet more. The
original recess has an acute, and the addition a drop arch. The one may
be early English, and the other of Decorated date. Above this the full
thickness of the wall is seen in the great modern window, cut through
it, in the constable’s lodging.
Bell Tower is so called from the alarm bell once suspended from its
summit. The bell now discharges the less exciting duty of summoning the
garrison to St. Peter’s Church, and the bell turret has been replaced
by a _gazebo_. The tower caps the south-west angle of the ward, and
stands 40 feet within the Byward Gate, which it commands. It is in
plan an irregular octagon, about 35 feet mean diameter, and 60 feet
high, from the level of the outer ward. Five and a half of its sides
project beyond the curtains. Above, the angles are rudely rounded off,
and the upper 20 feet is cylindrical, and may be an early addition.
The two southern faces have a chamfered plinth, 6 feet high. The walls
have been stuck over with chips of flint, and the parapet is a brick
addition; but it is evident that the basement was originally of fine
jointed ashlar, almost equal to Wakefield. Five cruciform loops mark
the line of the interior basement, about 14 feet above the exterior
ground.
[Illustration: BELL TOWER.—FIRST FLOOR.]
The lower 10 feet of this tower is solid, and above this are two
stages. The basement, now a cellar and boot-hole, is of irregular plan,
and may be called a rectangular figure with inclined ends. The walls
are from 9 feet to 13 feet thick, and contain four pointed arched
recesses with loops, and a mural chamber, also looped. The entrance
passage from the gorge is bent at right angles.
This chamber is vaulted and ribbed, its outer end terminating in a rude
pentagon, traversed by five hip-ribs, of plain rectangular section,
and meeting by a high-pitched arch, in a central boss. This boss and
the capitals whence spring three of the ribs are of early English
character. The shafts are wanting.
The upper chamber is rudely circular, and about 18 feet across. The
walls are 8 feet thick. From the well-stair, which commences at this
level, a short passage opens into a rectangular lobby, also vaulted, 4
feet by 5 feet 6 inches, from which a door leads into the chamber, and
another into a small flag-roofed mural gallery, which threads the south
wall for 22 feet, and has two loops, one raking the south curtain, the
other lighting a garderobe, which seems to have another opening direct
into the tower.