Location

Steeped in history.

The Tower of London, officially His Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded toward the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was initially a resented symbol of oppression inflicted upon London by the new Norman ruling class. 

The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 until 1952, although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under kings Richard I, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.

Thomas Cromwell and the Tower

In April 1532, Henry awarded Cromwell his first formal office, that of Master of the Jewels, which required regular visits to the Jewel House at the Tower of London. 

During his time as the King’s Chief Minister from 1532 to 1540,  he had some famous people committed to the Tower including  – to mention a few:

• Thomas More was imprisoned on 17 April 1534 for treason. He was executed on 6 July 1535 and his body was buried at the Tower of London.
• Thomas Abel, chaplain to Queen Catherine of Aragon, was imprisoned for refusing to accept the annulment of her marriage to Henry VIII. He was put to death in Smithfield on 30 July 1540.
• Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry, was imprisoned on 2 May 1536 on charges of High Treason: adultery, incest, and witchcraft. She remained a prisoner until 19 May 1536, when she was beheaded by a French swordsman on Tower Green. She was joined by:
  • George Boleyn: Anne’s brother, who was executed first because he was the highest in rank
  • Henry Norris: Groom of the stool
  • Francis Weston: A courtier
  • William Brereton: A courtier
  • Mark Smeaton: A musician in Queen Anne’s household

• Adam Sedbar, Abbot of Jervaulx, imprisoned in 1537 for taking part in the Pilgrimage of Grace, before being hanged, drawn and quartered.
• Richard Whiting Abbott of Glastonbury Abbey was imprisoned in 1539 for a short time before being returned to Glastonbury to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
• Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury was imprisoned from 1539 until her beheading in 1541 for treason.

Contrary to popular belief, Henry’s dislike of his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, was not the end for Cromwell. Although one contemporary gleefully observed ‘Cromwell is tottering’, the King soon forgave him and in April 1540 he created him Earl of Essex.

This infuriated Cromwell’s enemies – chief among whom was the Duke of Norfolk – and made them determined to get rid of this low-born upstart for good. They therefore started a whispering campaign against Cromwell and told Henry that he was plotting to rebel against him.

It took little to ignite the suspicions of this ageing and paranoid King, who did not hesitate to order Cromwell’s arrest on charges of treason and heresy.

Despite his pleas for mercy, the King did not heed his words and Cromwell was executed on Tower Hill on 28 July 1540. It took three blows of the axe by ‘the ‘ragged and butcherly’ executioner to sever his head.

When this had been displayed on London Bridge, it was reunited with the rest of his remains and buried in the Tower’s Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula alongside his erstwhile rivals Anne Boleyn and Thomas More.

Cromwell’s name can be found on a plaque just inside the door of the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula, and there is a memorial on the site of his execution on Tower Hill.