Tower of London Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Changing use=== The beginning of the [[Tudor period]] marked the start of the decline of the Tower of London's use as a royal residence. As 16th-century chronicler [[Raphael Holinshed]] said the Tower became used more as "an armouries and house of munition, and thereunto a place for the safekeeping of offenders than a palace roiall for a king or queen to sojourne in".<ref name="I&P 51">{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=51}}</ref> Henry VII visited the Tower on fourteen occasions between 1485 and 1500, usually staying for less than a week at a time.<ref>{{harvnb|Thurley|2017}}</ref> The [[Yeoman Warder]]s have been the Royal Bodyguard since at least 1509.<ref name="Yeoman Warders">{{Citation |title=Yeoman Warders |url=http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/yeomanwarder.aspx |publisher=[[Historic Royal Palaces]] |accessdate=21 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729164307/http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/yeomanwarder.aspx |archivedate=29 July 2010}}</ref> In 1517 the Tower fired its cannon at City crowds engaged in the xenophobic [[Evil May Day]] riots, in which the properties of foreign residents were looted. It is not thought that any rioters were hurt by the gunfire, which was probably meant merely to intimidate the mob.<ref>{{harvnb|Bowle|1964}}</ref> [[File:James_Basire_-_The_Procession_of_King_Edward_VI_from_the_Tower_-_B1977.14.11652_-_Yale_Center_for_British_Art.jpg|thumb|400px|The traditional coronation procession from the Tower to Westminster for King Edward VI (1547)]] During the reign of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]], the Tower was assessed as needing considerable work on its defences. In 1532, [[Thomas Cromwell]] spent Β£3,593 on repairs and imported nearly 3,000 tons of Caen stone for the work.<ref name="Parnell 1993 55" /> Even so, this was not sufficient to bring the castle up to the standard of contemporary military fortifications which were designed to withstand powerful artillery.<ref>{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=73}}</ref> Although the defences were repaired, the palace buildings were left in a state of neglect after Henry's death. Their condition was so poor that they were virtually uninhabitable.<ref name="I&P 51" /> From 1547 onwards, the Tower of London was only used as a royal residence when its political and historic symbolism was considered useful, for instance each of [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]], [[Mary I of England|Mary I]], and [[Elizabeth I]] briefly stayed at the Tower before their coronations.<ref>{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=52}}</ref> In the 16th century, the Tower acquired an enduring reputation as a grim, forbidding prison. This had not always been the case. As a royal castle, it was used by the monarch to imprison people for various reasons, however these were usually high-status individuals for short periods rather than common citizenry as there were plenty of prisons elsewhere for such people. Contrary to the popular image of the Tower, prisoners were able to make their life easier by purchasing amenities such as better food or tapestries through the Lieutenant of the Tower.<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|1998|pp=10β11}}</ref> As holding prisoners was originally an incidental role of the Tower β as would have been the case for any castle β there was no purpose-built accommodation for prisoners until 1687 when a brick shed, a "Prison for Soldiers", was built to the north-west of the White Tower. The Tower's reputation for torture and imprisonment derives largely from 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century romanticists.<ref name="I&P 91">{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=91}}</ref> Although much of the Tower's reputation is exaggerated, the 16th and 17th centuries marked the castle's zenith as a prison, with many religious and political undesirables locked away.<ref name="I&P 91" /> The Privy Council had to sanction the use of torture, so it was not often used; between 1540 and 1640, the peak of imprisonment at the Tower, there were 48 recorded cases of the use of torture. The three most common forms used were the infamous [[Rack (torture)|rack]], the [[Scavenger's daughter]], and manacles.<ref name="I&P 92">{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=92}}</ref> The rack was introduced to England in 1447 by the Duke of Exeter, the Constable of the Tower; consequentially it was also known as the [[Duke of Exeter's daughter]].<ref>{{harvnb|Black|1927|p=345}}</ref> One of those tortured at the Tower was [[Guy Fawkes]], who was brought there on 6 November 1605; after torture he signed a full confession to the [[Gunpowder Plot]].<ref name="I&P 91" /> Among those held and executed at the Tower was [[Anne Boleyn]].<ref name="I&P 91" /> Although the Yeoman Warders were once the Royal Bodyguard, by the 16th and 17th centuries their main duty had become to look after the prisoners.<ref name="Parnell 1993 117">{{harvnb|Parnell|1993|p=117}}</ref> The Tower was often a safer place than other prisons in London such as the [[Fleet Prison|Fleet]], where disease was rife. High-status prisoners could live in conditions comparable to those they might expect outside; one such example was that while [[Walter Raleigh]] was held in the Tower his rooms were altered to accommodate his family, including his son who was born there in 1605.<ref name="I&P 92" /> Executions were usually carried out on Tower Hill rather than in the Tower of London itself, and 112 people were executed on the hill over 400 years.<ref name="I&P 94">{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=94}}</ref> Before the 20th century, there had been seven executions within the castle on [[Tower Green]]; as was the case with [[Lady Jane Grey]], this was reserved for prisoners for whom public execution was considered dangerous.<ref name="I&P 94" /> After Lady Jane Grey's execution on 12 February 1554,<ref>{{harvnb|Plowden|2004}}</ref> Queen Mary I imprisoned her sister Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth I, in the Tower under suspicion of causing rebellion as Sir [[Thomas Wyatt the Younger|Thomas Wyatt]] had led a revolt against Mary in Elizabeth's name.<ref>{{harvnb|Collinson|2004}}</ref> [[File:London-10-2 (48189346536).jpg|thumb|Memorial To The Executed in the Tower, unveiled in 2006, designed by [[Brian Catling]]]] [[File:Tower Hill, 2006.jpg|right|thumb|The cobbled surface of [[Tower Hill]] to the north of the Tower of London. Over a period of 400 years, 112 people were executed on the hill.<ref name="I&P 94" />]] The Office of Ordnance and Armoury Office were founded in the 15th century, taking over the Privy Wardrobe's duties of looking after the monarch's arsenal and valuables.<ref>{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=47}}</ref> As there was no standing army before 1661, the importance of the royal armoury at the Tower of London was that it provided a professional basis for procuring supplies and equipment in times of war. The two bodies were resident at the Tower from at least 1454, and by the 16th century they had moved to a position in the inner ward.<ref>{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=57}}</ref> The [[Board of Ordnance]] (successor to these Offices) had its headquarters in the White Tower and used surrounding buildings for storage. In 1855 the Board was abolished; its successor (the [[Royal Army Ordnance Corps|Military Store Department]] of the [[War Office]]) was also based there until 1869, after which its headquarters staff were relocated to the [[Royal Arsenal]] in [[Woolwich]] (where the recently closed [[Woolwich Dockyard]] was converted into a vast ordnance store).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Semark |first=H.W. |title=The Royal Naval Armament Depots of Priddy's Hard, Elson, Frater and Bedenham, 1768β1977 |date=1997 |publisher=Hampshire County Council |location=Winchester |page=124}}</ref> Political tensions between [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] and Parliament in the second quarter of the 17th century led to an attempt by forces loyal to the King to secure the Tower and its valuable contents, including money and munitions. London's [[London Trained Bands|Trained Bands]], a militia force, were moved into the castle in 1640. Plans for defence were drawn up and gun platforms were built, readying the Tower for war. The preparations were never put to the test. In 1642, Charles I attempted to arrest five members of parliament. When this failed he fled the city, and Parliament retaliated by removing Sir [[John Byron, 1st Baron Byron|John Byron]], the Lieutenant of the Tower. The Trained Bands had switched sides, and now supported Parliament; together with the London citizenry, they blockaded the Tower. With permission from the King, Byron relinquished control of the Tower. Parliament replaced Byron with a man of their own choosing, Sir [[Conyers baronets|John Conyers]]. By the time the [[English Civil War]] broke out in November 1642, the Tower of London was already in Parliament's control.<ref>{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=74}}</ref> The last monarch to uphold the tradition of taking a procession from the Tower to Westminster to be crowned was [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] in 1661. At the time, the castle's accommodation was in such poor condition that he did not stay there the night before his coronation.<ref name="I&P 54-55">{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|pp=54β55}}</ref> Under the [[House of Stuart|Stuart kings]] the Tower's buildings were remodelled, mostly under the auspices of the Office of Ordnance. Just over Β£4,000 was spent in 1663 on building a new storehouse, now known as the New Armouries in the inner ward.<ref name="Parnell 1993 64" /> In the 17th century there were plans to enhance the Tower's defences in the style of the ''[[star fort|trace italienne]]'', however they were never acted on. Although the facilities for the garrison were improved with the addition of the first purpose-built quarters for soldiers (the "Irish Barracks") in 1670, the general accommodations were still in poor condition.<ref>{{harvnb|Parnell|1993|pp=76β77}}</ref> [[File:Tower of London, south, Buck brothers.jpg|thumb|300px|left|An engraving of the Tower of London in 1737 by [[Samuel and Nathaniel Buck]]]] When the [[House of Hanover|Hanoverian dynasty]] ascended the throne, their situation was uncertain and with a possible Scottish rebellion in mind, the Tower of London was repaired. Most of the work in this period (1750 to 1770) was done by the King's Master Mason, [[John Deval]].<ref>Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnisp.129</ref> Gun platforms added under the Stuarts had decayed. The number of guns at the Tower was reduced from 118 to 45, and one contemporary commentator noted that the castle "would not hold out four and twenty hours against an army prepared for a siege".<ref>{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=78}}</ref> For the most part, the 18th-century work on the defences was spasmodic and piecemeal, although a new gateway in the southern curtain wall permitting access from the wharf to the outer ward was added in 1774. The moat surrounding the castle had become silted over the centuries since it was created despite attempts at clearing it. It was still an integral part of the castle's defences, so in 1830 the Constable of the Tower, the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]], ordered a large-scale clearance of several feet of silt. However this did not prevent an outbreak of disease in the garrison in 1841 caused by poor water supply, resulting in several deaths. To prevent the festering ditch posing further health problems, it was ordered that the moat should be drained and filled with earth. The work began in 1843 and was mostly complete two years later. The construction of the Waterloo Barracks in the inner ward began in 1845, when the Duke of Wellington laid the foundation stone. The building could accommodate 1,000 men; at the same time, separate quarters for the officers were built to the north-east of the White Tower. The building is now the headquarters of the [[Royal Fusiliers|Royal Regiment of Fusiliers]].<ref>{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|pp=79β80}}</ref> The popularity of the [[Chartism|Chartist movement]] between 1828 and 1858 led to a desire to refortify the Tower of London in the event of civil unrest. It was the last major programme of fortification at the castle. Most of the surviving installations for the use of artillery and firearms date from this period.<ref>{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=81}}</ref> During the [[First World War]], eleven men were tried in private and shot by firing squad at the Tower for espionage.<ref>{{Citation |title=Executions at The Tower of London |url=http://www.hrp.org.uk/Resources/Executions%20at%20the%20Tower.pdf |publisher=[[Historic Royal Palaces]] |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705121450/http://www.hrp.org.uk/Resources/Executions%20at%20the%20Tower.pdf |archivedate=5 July 2011 |accessdate=31 July 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> During the [[Second World War]], the Tower was once again used to hold prisoners of war. One such person was [[Rudolf Hess]], [[Adolf Hitler]]'s deputy, albeit just for four days in 1941. He was the last state prisoner to be held at the castle.<ref>{{harvnb|Impey|Parnell|2000|p=123}}</ref> The last person to be executed at the Tower was German spy [[Josef Jakobs]] who was shot on 15 August 1941.<ref name="Sellers 179">{{harvnb|Sellers|1997|p=179}}</ref> The executions for espionage during the wars took place in a prefabricated [[miniature rifle range]] which stood in the outer ward and was demolished in 1969.<ref>{{harvnb|Parnell|1993|pp=117β118}}</ref> The Second World War also saw the last use of the Tower as a fortification. In the event of a [[Operation Sealion|German invasion]], the Tower, together with the Royal Mint and nearby warehouses, was to have formed one of three "keeps" or complexes of defended buildings which formed the last-ditch defences of the capital.<ref>{{harvnb|Osbourne|2012|p=167}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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