The Tower Hill Postern was a small fortified entrance (

postern A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often placed in concealed locations, allowing inconspicuous entrance and exit. In the event of a siege, a postern could act as a s ...

) at the eastern terminal point to the

London Wall The London Wall is a defensive wall first built by the Ancient Rome, Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, as well as the name of a #modern, modern street in the City of London, England. Roman London was ...

, at the junction of the Wall and the

Tower of London 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 Hamle ...

moat. The size of the gateway indicates that it was suitable for pedestrians and horsemen but not wide enough to accommodate wagons, carts or carriages. Scale Model Of The Tower Of London In The Tower Of London

Scale Model Of The Tower Of London In The Tower Of London

The medieval postern gate by the tower of London - geograph

Antecedent gateway

There is no evidence for a gateway on the site earlier than the building erected by

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

around 1297-1308, and no reason for there to have been a gateway there before the expansion of the Tower of London. There are a number of circumstantial arguments including arguments based on road alignments, records of parochial disputes and indirect references by

William Fitzstephen William Fitzstephen (also William fitz Stephen), (died c. 1191) was a cleric and administrator in the service of Thomas Becket. In the 1170s, he wrote a long biography of Thomas Becket – the ''Vita Sancti Thomae'' (Life of St. Thomas). Fitzste ...

to indicate that there may have been a gateway further south that was replaced when much of the wall was demolished as part of the expansion of the Tower.

History

The Tower of London moat was dug in around 1270 as part of a scheme to extend the Tower, and part of the London Wall was demolished to make room for the expanded Tower and Moat. The postern at the edge of the moat, at the wall's new terminal point was probably built soon after, most likely in the period 1297-1308. The southern tower, which was built from Caen stone, partially collapsed in either 1431 or 1440, sliding vertically down three metres into the Tower Moat. The tower remained standing and though functionally impaired remained in use. There was a subsequent degree of re-building.

Structure

The southern tower included a ground floor and a cellar, thought to have been reached by a ladder. The cellar had a window overlooking the moat. The remains of a stairwell and a

portcullis A portcullis () is a heavy, vertically closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications. It consists of a latticed Grille (architecture), grille made of wood and/or metal, which slides down grooves inset within each jamb of the gateway. ...

chase indicate that there was an upper floor and perhaps also a parapet on the roof. Nothing is known for certain about the tower north of the gateway except the information that can be gleaned from cartographic sources, all of which postdate the collapse of the southern tower. Some believe that the northern and surviving southern towers existed at the same time, while others think the northern tower was erected subsequently, to compensate for the loss of the southern tower.

Setting

The postern was situated in the Tower Liberty, an area outside the jurisdiction of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, which included the Tower itself and the surrounding areas. The area was under the control of the Tower in order that the defensibility of the Tower was not compromised by development leading up to the edge of the castle and its moat.Tower of London Local Setting Study, 2010, sec 4.1 The Tower Liberty is still outside the authority of the City, now forming part of the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

Remains

The foundations of the southern tower, which sunk into the moat, were excavated in 1979 and can be seen in the Tower Hill underpass.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in the City of London Anglo-Saxon architecture London Wall and its gates