Wikipedia

Tower Hill

For other uses, seeTower Hill (disambiguation).

Tower Hillis the area surrounding theTower of Londonin theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets.It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher ground north-west of the Tower of London moat is now occupied by Trinity Square Gardens.

Tower Hill
Tower Hill is located in City of London in 1300
Tower Hill
Tower Hill
Tower Hill is located in Greater London
Tower Hill
Tower Hill
Location withinGreater London
OS grid referenceTQ333806
•Charing Cross2 mi (3.2 km)W
London borough
Ceremonial countyGreater London
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLONDON
Postcode districtEC3N
Dialling code020
PoliceMetropolitan
FireLondon
AmbulanceLondon
UK Parliament
London Assembly
List of places
UK
England
London
51°30′31″N0°04′42″W/ 51.5085°N 0.0782°W/51.5085; -0.0782
A surviving section of Roman wall on Tower Hill. Great Tower Hill lay inside the wall, Little Tower Hill outside.
Tower Hill as shown on the"Woodcut" mapof c. 1561

Tower Hill rises from the north bank of theRiver Thamesto reach a maximum height of 14.5 metres (48 ft)Ordnance Datum.[1]The land was historically part of theLiberties of the Tower of London,an area the Tower authorities controlled to keep clear of any development which would reduce the defensibility of the Tower. Building has encroached to a degree, but a legacy of this control is that much of the hill is still open. The hill includes land on either side of theLondon Wall,a large remnant of which is visible.[2]

Definition

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Further information:Liberties of the Tower of London § History

Generally speaking, the nameTower Hillinformally applies to those parts of theTower Libertythat are outside theTower of Londonand its moat.Great Tower Hillis the land lying inside (or west) of the line of theLondon WallwhereasLittle Tower Hillis the land outside (or east) of the wall.[3]

Public executions

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Depiction of the 1685 execution ofJames Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouthat Tower Hill in a popular print.
The Tower Hill Memorial, marking the site of the Scaffold

Public executionsof high-profile traitors and criminals, oftenattainted peers,as well as innocent Catholics in the 16th century, were carried out on Tower Hill (some others were carried out within the confines of the Tower of London itself). The backgrounds to those carried out at Tower Hill ranged from thePeasants’ Revoltof 1381 to theWars of the Roses;Lollardism;claims to the throne byPerkin WarbeckandLambert Simnel;theEnglish Reformation;thePilgrimage of Grace;theMonmouth Rebellion;theJacobite Risingand theGordon Riotsof 1780. Lord Lovat's execution for high treason in 1747 was the last judicial beheading in England while the final executions on Tower Hill were hangings in 1780. Some 120 executions are chronicled and they include:-

Trinity Square and Gardens

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After the abandonment of Tower Hill as a site for public executions, Trinity Square and Gardens were laid out in 1797 bySamuel Wyattas the setting forTrinity House,completed a year earlier as headquarters of theCorporation of Trinity House.

In the 1880s, a section of the London UndergroundCircle Linewas constructed beneath Trinity Square Gardens. In the first decade of the 20th century small buildings, courts and yards bordering Trinity Square were cleared to make way for the construction of the Port of London Authority headquarters at10 Trinity Square.Begun in 1912 and completed in 1922, the Grade II* building is now a Four Seasons hotel which opened as such on 26 January 2017.[11]

TheMerchant Navy Memorial, First World War section, Grade I-listed,was unveiled by Queen Mary (deputising for her husband, KingGeorge V) on 12 December 1928.[12]To avoid overshadowing this, the Grade II* Second World War section is In the form of a sunken garden and was unveiled by The Queen on 5 December 1955[13]while that commemorating merchant seamen killed in the 1982Falklands Warwas unveiled on 4 September 2005 by the First Sea Lord, Admiral SirAlan West.

Tower Hill Trust

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In October 1933,Reverend P B ( “Tubby” ) ClaytonofAll Hallows by the Towerand Dr B R Leftwich published “The Pageant of Tower Hill”, which included the outline of a scheme to improve Tower Hill. In December 1933 the inaugural meeting of the Tower Hill Improvement Fund was held.Lord Wakefieldwas elected president and launched an appeal at theGuildhallin January 1934.[14]

One of the Trust's first actions was to create abeachon the north bank of theThamesbetween St Katherine's Steps and theTowerfor families from theEast End.[14]

In 1937 the Fund became the Tower Hill Improvement Trust and set about purchasing a number of buildings it consideredeyesores.These were demolished in order to provide gardens and open public spaces. Among the buildings demolished was the giant Myer's tea warehouse, which stood next to All Hallows and blocked the view of the Tower from the west.[14]

During 2001-2003 the Trust part-financed the refurbishment of Trinity Square Gardens.[14]

In June 2006 the Trust's name was shortened to Tower Hill Trust.[14]

Tower Hill (the street)

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The street of Tower Hill, within theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets,adjoins theCity of LondonatByward Streetand runs eastwards toMinoriesand Tower Bridge Approach. It replaced Postern Row in the 1880s and was widened and extended a decade later.[15][16][17]Tower Hill is in theLondon congestion chargezone from its junction with Minories westwards.

A pedestrian subway linksTower Hill tube stationto the boundary of the Tower of London where the remains of the south tower of the medievalpostern gateare visible.

Tower Hill Terrace and Tower Vaults

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Tower Hill Terrace is the pedestrian way that runs south offTower Hillto Gloucester Court and also the adjoining paved public space, redeveloped in 2019, atop the Tower Vaults shopping complex.[18]A floor plaque in Tower Vaults commemorates its re-opening in 1991 as the surviving part of the 1864 George Myers built Mazawattee Tea Warehouse, extensively bomb-damaged in Second World War air raids and later demolished.

Scale model of theTower of Londonshowing the Bulwark Gate andbastionto the left

No. 7 of the original 31Tower Liberty boundary markersis sited at the bottom of the steps linking Gloucester Court to Tower Hill Terrace and no. 8 is positioned at the base of the circular concrete air duct adjoining Tower Hill.[19]

Bulwark Gate (site of)

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Immediately east of the Tower of London Welcome Centre on Great Tower Hill are the buried structural remains of the medieval Bulwark Gate andbastion.The lower half of Tower Hill was enclosed in the late 15th century to protect the western entrance to the Tower of London. The large brick bastion commissioned byEdward IVextended part way up Tower Hill fromTower Dock,but was demolished in 1668.[20]

Tower Subway

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Tower Subwayentrance, March 2013

Tower Subwayis a tunnel under theThamesrunning from Tower Hill to Vine Lane inSouthwark.The round brick-built entrance building near the Tower of London's ticket office was constructed in 1926 by theLondon Hydraulic Power Company.[21]The year of 1868 visible on the structure refers to the Tower Subway Act of 1868 which authorised the construction of the tunnel.[22]

Former Pump House

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The Tower of London shop at the formerpump house,November 2017

The grade II listed formerpump house(Tower of London shop) was built in 1863 and designed by the architectAnthony Salvin.[23]

Public transport

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London Buses route 15east toBlackwalland west toTrafalgar Squareruns along Tower Hill.Tower Hill tube stationis adjacent andTower Gateway DLR stationclose by as is Tower Pier for London River Services.

References

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  1. ^Based on spot heights marked on Ordnance Survey digital map of the area.
  2. ^Wheatley, Henry Benjamin;Cunningham, Peter(1891)."Tower Hill".London Past and Present.Vol. 3. London: John Murray. pp. 400–402.
  3. ^Map of Early Modern Londonhttps://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/LITT7.htmArchived6 October 2021 at theWayback Machine,see also linked Tower Hill entry. Note, the posterngate was a small gate in the City Wall; the foundations survive.
  4. ^abcdefgSign at site of the scaffold (2)
  5. ^abcdefgSign at site of the scaffold (3)
  6. ^abcdefgSign at site of the scaffold (4)
  7. ^"Walter Hungerford and the 'Buggery Act' | English Heritage".english-heritage.org.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 21 March 2017.Retrieved20 March2017.
  8. ^"Duke of Suffolk's Monument, Astley | Warwickshire Museum's Take the Timetrail".timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk/.Archivedfrom the original on 18 April 2024.Retrieved22 October2023.
  9. ^abcdefSign at site of the scaffold (5)
  10. ^"The Scots peerage: Founded on Wood's ed. Of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom".
  11. ^"City of London, Trinity Square Conservation Area, Draft Character Summary and Management Strategy SPD"(PDF).Democracy: City of London.City of London Corporation.Archived(PDF)from the original on 24 November 2021.Retrieved23 November2021.
  12. ^Historic England."The Merchant Navy Memorial, First World War section (1260087)".National Heritage List for England.
  13. ^Historic England."The Merchant Navy Memorial, Second World War section (1031597)".National Heritage List for England.
  14. ^abcde"History of the Tower Hill Trust".Tower Hill Trust.Retrieved19 November2021.
  15. ^Henry A Harben, 'Portpool Lane - Potters' Alley, Court', in A Dictionary of London (London, 1918), British History Onlinehttp:// british-history.ac.uk/no-series/dictionary-of-london/portpool-lane-potters-alley-courtArchived24 November 2021 at theWayback Machine[accessed 24 November 2021].
  16. ^Henry A Harben, 'Tower Chambers - Traitors' Bridge', in A Dictionary of London (London, 1918), British History Onlinehttp:// british-history.ac.uk/no-series/dictionary-of-london/tower-chambers-traitors-bridgeArchived21 October 2021 at theWayback Machine[accessed 24 November 2021].
  17. ^Henry A Harben, 'Little Somer's Key - Little Tower Hill', in A Dictionary of London (London, 1918), British History Onlinehttp:// british-history.ac.uk/no-series/dictionary-of-london/little-somers-key-little-tower-hillArchived24 November 2021 at theWayback Machine[accessed 24 November 2021].
  18. ^"Tower Hill Terrace".architectsjournal.co.uk.EMAP Publishing Limited.Archivedfrom the original on 26 November 2021.Retrieved25 November2021.
  19. ^Historic England."HM TOWER OF LONDON LIBERTY BOUNDARY MARKERS (1393922)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved26 November2021.
  20. ^Historic England."Tower Hill West (1001980)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved27 November2021.
  21. ^"Tower Subway".Subterranea Britannica.org.uk.Subterranea Britannica.Archivedfrom the original on 4 August 2021.Retrieved27 November2021.
  22. ^Smith, Denis (2001).Civil Engineering Heritage: London & The Thames Valley.Institution of Civil Engineers/Thomas Telford Ltd. p. 22.ISBN9780727728760.
  23. ^Historic England."FORMER PUMP HOUSE (1357558)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved27 November2021.
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