Wakefield Tower

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Wakefield Tower in the middle of the picture between Bloody Tower and St Thomas's Tower

The Wakefield Tower also Blundeville Tower or Hall Tower is a round tower on the fortress grounds of the Tower of London . In the 13th century under Henry III. The tower built is the largest tower in the fortress after the White Tower . Its lower part is made of ashlar , the upper part of layered masonry . The tower has been in the middle fortress ring since the fortress was expanded in the late 13th century.

history

Originally the tower was named after Thomas de Blundeville , who was constable of the tower when construction began . The tower probably owes its current name to William de Wakefield , secretary to the king in the 14th century, who temporarily had his seat in the tower.

Henry III. had the tower built for his private living quarters. These were probably on the first floor of the building. The tower secures the innermost ring of the fortress and protects the bloody gate to the water. The upper floor provided control over traffic on the Thames. The round shape is probably based on the donjons of the French castles of the time.

At the same time as the Wakefield Tower, Heinrich had a wall erected to the north from the tower, which protected the fortress towards the city. To the east of the tower, also directly on the Thames, he built the Great Hall. At the other end of the Great Hall was the Queens Tower, in which the Queen had her apartments. This symmetrical arrangement of the sleeping quarters anticipated developments that were not implemented in other royal residences until the next 200 to 300 years.

The distance between Wakefield Tower and Queen's Tower corresponds to the usual distance between bastions in the Roman city wall of London - an indication that the foundations of the Roman city wall of Londinium were used for the construction of the tower wall . To the west of the Wakefield Tower was the Bloody Gate, which for some time was the main gate of the tower to the Thames.

When Heinrich began the extensive expansion of the fortifications around the tower in 1238, the Wakefield Tower got its current upper floor. Based on the disproportionately low height of the tower and the fact that the similarly built Queen's Tower has one more story, it can be assumed that the Wakefield Tower was originally also supposed to be one story higher than it is today. With the construction of another fortress ring around the inner ring of the Tower of London, the Wakefield Tower lost its strategic importance. The St Thomas's Tower with the Traitors Gate formed the attachment to the water after the construction of the new fortress ring, the Bloody Gate was replaced by the Bloody Tower, which allows passage through the inner rampart.

use

Historical use

Like other parts of the tower, the Wakefield Tower served as a prison , in which, among other things, Henry VI. was kept. Since the reign of Edward I , the Wakefield Tower has been used as an archive of state documents. However, these accumulated so much over the centuries that the White Tower also had to house documents. In the middle of the 19th century, the archive was completely relocated from the fortress grounds.

From 1870 to 1967, the British Crown Jewels were kept in Wakefield Tower. For this purpose, the builder Anthony Salvin had the tower rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style. For example, today's windows in the tower were created. In 1967 the Crown Jewels moved to the newly built Jewels House in the Waterlooblock on the grounds of the Tower due to the large number of visitors .

In the 1980s, archaeological excavations took place on and in the tower, several meters of filler material were removed from the base of the tower. The archaeologists restored the circular supporting beams and discovered the remains of a large fireplace in the main hall of the tower.

Use since 1993

The upper chamber was dismantled in 1992/1993 to an optical condition that should correspond to the 13th century. Due to the scarce sources, the architects had to be very speculative. Together with St. Thomas Tower and Lanthorn Tower , the tower now represents the "medieval palace" in the tower. On the upper floor, a facility with a large chandelier and a replica throne is supposed to represent a manorial hall from the Middle Ages, in which actors regularly perform scenes from a medieval Re-enact the throne room. In the basement there is an exhibition on torture in the tower.

Ceremony of lilies and roses

The lilies and roses ceremony is much younger than the other ceremonies currently being held in the Tower. The annual ceremony in the Wakefield Tower commemorates the murdered King Henry VI. who found his death in the Tower. The ceremony dates back to 1923. Based on an initiative of the Eton College founded by Heinrich, a marble commemorative plaque for Heinrich VI has been in place since this year. in the Wakefield Tower. Since this year, the Vicar of the Towers and a member of parliament from Eton have laid a large bouquet of Eton lilies on the memorial stone every May 21st. Since 1947, King's College in Cambridge, also founded by Heinrich, has participated in the ceremony with a large bouquet of roses.

Present shape

The tower is the second largest tower in the fortress after the White Tower. The round tower was constructed from two different building materials, with the lower third made of stone, the upper two thirds of layered masonry. A private royal side entrance was located in the east of the tower, to which the remains of stairs can still be seen on the north side, leading there. A bridge leads to St. Thomas's Tower to the south. The upper chamber is the best preserved 13th century interior in the tower. In the lower chamber, an impressive wooden ceiling construction was rebuilt in the 20th century, the original of which probably came from the 13th century and was lost in a fire in 1867.

Remarks

  1. Thurley p. 38
  2. a b Thurley p. 39
  3. London Online: Wakefield Tower
  4. a b c Thurley p. 41
  5. ^ A b John Steane: The archeology of medieval England and Wales Taylor & Francis, 1985 ISBN 0709923856 , p. 9
  6. ^ A b c Simon Bradley, Nikolaus Pevsner: London 1, The city of London, 1997, London: Penguin. ISBN 0140710922 , p. 363
  7. Thurley p. 37
  8. a b c Simon Bradley, Nikolas Pevsner: London 1, The city of London, 1997, London: Penguin. ISBN 0140710922 , p. 364
  9. Historic Royal Palaces: Medieval Palace
  10. Tom Masters, Steve Fallon, Vesna Maric: Lonely Planet London City Guide . Lonely Planet, 2010, ISBN 1741792266 , p. 119
  11. Historic Royal Palaces: Tower of London World Heritage Site - Management Plan 2007. as pdf ( Memento of December 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) p. 80
  12. ^ WDM Raeburn: Ceremonies of the Tower in: John Charlton (ed.): The Tower of London. Its Buildings and Institutions. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London 1978, ISBN 0-11-670347-4 , pp. 128-129

literature

  • Simon Thurley: Royal Lodgings at The Tower of London 1216-1327 . In: Architectural History . Volume 38, 1995, pp. 36-57.

Web links

Commons : Wakefield Tower  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 27.1 "  N , 0 ° 4 ′ 36.2"  W.