The Western Entrance to the Tower of London, 1240-1241

Impey, Edward

The Western Entrance to the Tower of London, 1240-1241

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Journal article

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Impey, Edward

Date published

July 9, 2021

Abstract

The discovery in 1995 of a medieval structure within the fill of the Tower's western moat, close to the outer curtain wall and roughly halfway along it, led to further fieldwork in 1996 and 1997. This revealed a masonry platform, roughly 7m square, orientated on an approximate north-south axis. The eastern side was built into a bank of clay, the other three were faced in Reigate and Purbeck marble ashlar, set within a massive timber frame, which was linked to further framing to the west. The masonry and timberwork were both distorted by subsidence, an area of piling against the platform's eastern side having been driven in to stabilise the platform after the collapse of its super structure. The masonry was of late 12th or 13th-century type, but dendrochronological dating of the piles to 1240 may offer the precise date of its shoring up, probably its collapse, and possibly its construction. The coincidence of the building's position, its approximate date, the exact date of the piles and its structural failure almost certainly identify it with part of Henry III's new defences which, according to Matthew Paris, fell 'as if struck by an earthquake' in 1240 and 1241. The nature of the structure, its position, and the interpretation of the timber structure as a bridge identify it as a gate tower —probably an outer barbican. While the exact chronology of building, collapse and consolidation remain to be confirmed — together with the interpretation of Matthew Paris's text - the discovery vindicates Sir Howard Colvin's suggestion in 1963 that the principal entrance to the Tower in the mid 13th century was in this position. In addition, it has interesting implications for the form of the castle before the 1240s, in the period 1240-C.1280, and for the sequence and extent of Edward I's refortification.