A paragraph has lately gone the round of the newspapers, in which, after
mentioning the alterations recently made in the Beauchamp Tower and the
opening of its "written walls" to public inspection, it is stated that this
Tower was formerly the place of confinement for state prisoners, and that
"Sir William Wallace and Queen Anne Boleyn" were amongst its inmates.
Now, I believe there is no historical authority for saying that "the
Scottish hero" was ever confined in the Tower of London; and it seems
certain that the unfortunate queen was a prisoner in the royal apartments,
which were in a different part of the fortress. But so many illustrious
persons are known to have been confined in the Beauchamp Tower, and its
walls preserve so many curious inscriptions--the undoubted autographs of
many of its unfortunate tenants--that it must always possess great
interest.
Speaking from memory, I cannot say whether the building known as the
Beauchamp (or Wakefield) Tower was even in existence in the time of Edward
I.; but my impression is, that its architecture is not of so early a time.
It is, I believe, supposed to derive its name from the confinement in it of
Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in 1397. Of course it was not the
only place of durance of state prisoners, but it was the prison of most of
the victims of Tudor cruelty who were confined in the Tower of London; and
the walls of the principal chamber which is on the first storey, and was,
until lately, used as a mess-room for the officers, are covered in some
parts with those curious inscriptions by prisoners which were first
described in a paper read before the Society of Antiquaries in 1796, by the
Rev. J. Brand, and published in the thirteenth volume of _The Archæologia_.
Mr. P. Cunningham, in his excellent _Handbook_, says:
"William Wallace was lodged as a prisoner on his first arrival in
London in the house of William de Leyre, a citizen, in the parish of
All Hallows Staining, at the end of Fenchurch Street."
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Mr. Cunningham, in his notice of the Tower, mentions Wallace first among
the eminent persons who have been confined there. The popular accounts of
the Tower do the like. It was about the Feast of the Assumption (Aug. 15)
that Wallace was taken and conducted to London; and it seems clear that he
was forthwith imprisoned in the citizen's house:
"He was lodged," says Stow, "in the house of William Delect, a citizen
of London, in Fenchurch Street. On the morrow, being the eve of St.
Bartholomew (23rd Aug.), he was brought on horseback to Westminster ...
the mayor, sheriffs, and aldermen of London accompanying him; and in
the Great Hall at Westminster ... being impeached," &c.
The authorities cited are, Adam Merimuth and Thomas de La More. His
arraignment and condemnation on the Vigil of St. Bartholomew are also
mentioned by Matthew Westminster, p. 451. Neither these historians, or Stow
or Holinshed, afford any farther information. The latter chronicler says
that Wallace was "condemned, and thereupon hanged" (_Chron._, fol., 1586,
vol. ii. p. 313.). He was executed at Smithfield; and it is not improbable
that, if, after his condemnation, he was taken to any place of safe
custody, he was lodged in Newgate. The following entry of the expenses of
the sheriffs attending his execution is on the Chancellor's Roll of 33 Edw.
I. in the British Museum:
"Et in expen[=s] [=t] misis [=f]cis [crossed p] eos[=d] Vice^{tes}
[crossed p] Willo le Walleys Scoto lat^one predone puplico utlagato
inimico et rebellione [Rx] qui in contemptu [Rx] [crossed p] Scociam se
Regem Scocie falso fec[=a]t n[=o]iare [=t] [=t] ministros [Rx] in
[crossed p]t[=i]bus Scocie in[=t]fecit at[crossed q] dux^t excercit[=u]
hostili[=t] contr^a Reg[=e] [crossed p] judici[=u] Cu[=r] [Rx] apud
West[=m] dist^ahendo suspendendo decollando e[=j] viscera concremando
ac e[=j] corpus q^arterando cu[=j] cor[crossed p]is quar[=t]ia ad iiij
majores villas Scocie t^asmittebantur hoc anno.... _£_xj s. xd."
The day of the trial, August 23, is generally given the date of his
execution. It therefore appears that the formidable Scot never was a
prisoner in the Tower.
The unfortunate Queen Anne Boleyn occupied the royal apartments while she
was a prisoner in the Tower. From Speed's narrative, it appears that she
continued to occupy them after she was condemned to death. On May 15 (1536)
she was (says Stow)
"Arraigned in the Tower on a scaffold made for the purpose in the
King's Hall; and after her condemnation, she was conveyed to ward
again, the Lady Kingston, and the Lady Boloigne her aunt, attending on
her."
On May 19, the unfortunate queen was led forth to "the green by the White
Tower" and beheaded.
In the record of her trial before the Duke of Norfolk, Lord High Steward
(see _Report of Deputy Keeper of Public Records_), she is ordered to be
taken back to "the king's prison within the Tower;" but these are words of
form. The oral tradition cannot in this case be relied upon, for it pointed
out the Martin Tower as the place of her imprisonment because, as I
believe, her name was found rudely inscribed upon the wall. The Beauchamp
Tower seems to have been named only because it was the ordinary state
prison at the time. The narrative quoted by Speed shows, however, that the
place of her imprisonment was the queen's lodging, where the fading honours
of royalty still surrounded Anne Boleyn.