The space in front of the chapel is called Tower Green, and was used as a burial ground; in the middle is a small square plot, paved with granite, showing the site on which stood at rare intervals the scaffold on which private executions took place. It has been specially paved by the orders of Her late Majesty. The following persons are known to have been executed on this spot:—
1. Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, 19th May, 1536.
2. Margaret Countess of Salisbury, the last of the old Angevin or Plantagenet family, 27th May, 1541.
3. Queen Katharine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, 13th February, 1542.
4. Jane Viscountess Rochford, 13th February, 1542.
5. Lady Jane (Grey), wife of Lord Guildford Dudley, 12th February, 1554.
6. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, 25th February, 1601.
They were all beheaded with an axe except Queen Anne Boleyn, whose head was cut off with a sword by the executioner of St. Omer, brought over for the purpose. The executioner of the Earl of Essex was not able to do his work with less than three strokes, and was mobbed and beaten by the populace on his way home. The bodies of all six were buried in the Chapel of St. Peter.
Lord Hastings was also beheaded on Tower Green by order of the Duke of Gloucester in 1483.
is on the west side of Tower Green, facing the White Tower, and is on the inner wall between the Bell Tower on the south and the Devereux Tower on the north, being connected with both by a walk along the parapet. Its present name probably refers to the residence in it as a prisoner of Thomas, third Earl of Warwick, of the Beauchamp family, who was attainted under Richard II in 1397, but restored to his honours and liberty two years later under Henry IV. It is curious that the most interesting associations of the place should be connected with his successors in the earldom. Although built entirely for defensive purposes, we find it thus early used as a prison, and during the two following centuries it seems to have been regarded as one of the most convenient places in which to lodge prisoners of rank, and in consequence many of the most interesting mural inscriptions are to be found in its chambers.
In plan the Beauchamp Tower is semicircular, and it projects eighteen feet beyond the face of the wall. It consists of three storeys, of which the middle one is on a level with the rampart, on which it formerly opened. The whole building dates from the reign of Edward III. We enter at the south-east corner and ascend by a circular staircase to the middle chamber, which is spacious and has a large window, with a fire-place. Here are to be found most of the inscriptions, some having been brought from other chambers. A few are in the entrance passage and on the stair. All are numbered and catalogued. The following—to which the numbers are appended—will be found the most interesting:—
2. On the ground-floor, near the entrance, ROBART DVDLEY. This was the fifth son of John, Duke of Northumberland, and next brother to Guildford Dudley, the husband of Lady Jane Grey. When his father was brought to the block in 1553 he and his brothers remained in prison here, Robert being condemned to death in 1554. In the following year he was liberated with his elder brother Ambrose, afterwards created Earl of Warwick, and his younger brother Henry. In the first year of Queen Elizabeth he was made Master of the House and elected a Knight of the Garter. In 1563 he was created Earl of Leicester. He died at Cornbury, in Oxfordshire, in 1588.
8. On the left, at the entrance of the great chamber, is a carved cross, with other religious emblems, with the name and arms of PEVEREL, and the date 1570. It is supposed to have been cut by a Roman Catholic prisoner confined during the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
13. Over the fire-place this inscription in Latin:—"The more suffering for Christ in this world the more glory with Christ in the next," &c. This is signed "Arundel, June 22, 1587." This was Philip Howard, son of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, beheaded in 1573. Philip inherited from his maternal grandfather the earldom of Arundel in 1580. He was a staunch Roman Catholic and was constantly under suspicion of the Government, by which in 1584 he was confined in his own house for a short time. On his liberation he determined to quit the country, but was committed to the Tower in 1585, and died in custody ten years later, having refused release on condition of forsaking his religion. His body was buried in his father's grave in the Chapel of St. Peter, but was eventually removed to Arundel. He left other inscriptions, one in the window (79), and one on the staircase (91), dated 1587.
14. On the right of the fire-place is an elaborate piece of sculpture (Pl. XII), which will be examined with peculiar interest as a memorial of the four brothers Dudley: Ambrose (created Earl of Warwick 1561), Guildford (beheaded 1554), Robert (created Earl of Leicester 1563), and Henry (killed at the siege of St. Quintin, 1558), carved by the eldest, John (called Earl of Warwick), who died in 1554. Under a bear and a lion supporting a ragged staff is the name "JOHN DVDLE," and surrounding them is a wreath of roses (for Ambrose), oak leaves (for Robert, robur, an oak), gillyflowers (for Guildford), and honeysuckle (for Henry). Below are four lines, one of them incomplete, alluding to the device and its meaning. It is on record that the Lieutenant of the Tower was allowed 6s. 8d. a day each for the diet of these captive brothers.
33. This is one of several inscriptions relating to the Poole or Pole family (see also Nos. 45, 47, 52, 56, 57). They were the sons of the Countess of Salisbury, by Sir Richard Pole, K.G. No. 45 contains the name of "GEFFRYE POOLE 1562." He was the second son and gave evidence against his elder brother, Lord Montagu, who was beheaded in 1539.
48. "IANE." This interesting inscription, repeated also in the window (85), has always been supposed to refer to the Lady Jane Grey, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, and wife of Guildford Dudley, fourth son of the Duke of Northumberland. A second repetition in another part of the room was unfortunately obliterated in the last century when a new window was made to fit this chamber for a mess-room. It is sometimes, but erroneously, supposed that the name was carved by this Queen of ten days herself, but it is improbable that she was ever imprisoned in the Beauchamp Tower. She is known to have lived in the house of Partridge, the Gaoler. It is much more probable that the two inscriptions were placed on the wall either by Lord Guildford Dudley, her husband, or by his brother, whose large device has been described above.
66. In the window is the rebus, or monogram, of Thomas Abel: upon a bell is the letter A. This was Dr. Abel, a faithful servant to Queen Katharine of Arragon, first wife of King Henry VIII. He acted as her chaplain during the progress of the divorce, and by his determined advocacy offended the King. For denying the supremacy he was condemned and executed in 1540.
The visitor who has time to spare will find many other records of this kind in the Beauchamp Tower, the oldest of all being the name of "Thomas Talbot 1462" (89), supposed to have been concerned in the Wars of the Roses. Emerging again upon Tower Green we see on the right the
now called the King's House. The Hall door, where a sentry stands, is the same through which Lord Nithisdale escaped in female dress, the night before he was to have been beheaded, 1716. Some parts of the house are of great antiquity, among them the rooms in the Bell Tower, those on the upper storey which open on the leads and the rampart known as The Prisoners' Walk, and the Council Room, a handsome apartment containing a curious monument of the Gunpowder Plot. In this room Guy Fawkes and his associates were examined, 1605. The interior of the King's House is not shown to the public. Next to it is the house of the Gentleman Gaoler, or Chief Warder. It was in this house that Lady Jane Grey lived when a prisoner, and from its windows saw her husband go forth from the adjoining Beauchamp Tower to his execution on Tower Hill, and his headless body brought to the chapel "in a carre," while the scaffold was being prepared for her own death on the Green in front, which took place on the same day, Monday, 12th February, 1554.
NOTE.—Visitors who wish to know more about the Tower are referred to the works of Bayley, of Brayley and Britton, of Doyne C. Bell, of G.T. Clark, and of Hepworth Dixon.
| ARM OF THE SERVICE | In first year. | In subsequent years. | |||
| Recruit Drill. |
Musketry or Gunnery Drill. |
Usual Annual Training |
Total during the year. |
Usual Annual Training | |
| Artillery Infantry Medical |
49 | 14 | 27 | 90 | 27 |
| Engineers | |||||
| Fortress | 63 | 14 | 41 | 118 | 41 |
| Submarine Miners | 63 | 14 | 55 | 132 | 55 |
During the first year of service the rate of Bounty of a Militiaman varies from 10s. to £2.
A Training Bounty of £1 10s. is issued on the completion of each Annual Training. Ex-Army N.C.O.'s, who are appointed Sergeants, receive a training bounty of £3. Non-training bounty of £3 is issued in sums of £1 on each of the following dates—1st October, 1st December, and 1st February, to men who have completed two trainings or the equivalent thereof. A Special bounty of £1 is also given on the completion of an authorised course of instruction other than during the 28 days immediately preceding the training of the unit.
During Drill and training, N.C.O.'s and men receive Army rates of pay of their rank, also rations; and provided they are 19 years of age and have attended one training, or the equivalent thereof, messing allowance at 3d. a day.
In addition to the ordinary pay, extra-duty pay varying from 2d. to 6d. per day will be issued during the annual training to non commissioned officers and men of the Militia for the performance of certain specified duties.
Engineer Pay varying from 4d. to 2s. a day, will also be allowed to non commissioned officers and men of the Militia Engineers according to their qualifications.
Corps pay, varying from 4d. to 1s. a day, is granted to N.C.O.'s and men of the Royal Army Medical Corps, who are reported as duly qualified.
A Pamphlet containing detailed information as to the Conditions of Service in the Militia and in the Reserve Division of the Militia can be obtained free of charge at any Post Office in the United Kingdom, from any Sergeant Instructor of Volunteers, or other Recruiter.
Plate III. Bloody Tower and Gateway. Wakefield Tower.
Plate IV. St. Thomas's Tower and Traitors' Gate.
Plate V. Cradle Tower and Wall of Outer Ward. Lanthorn Tower Restored. Curtain Wall of Inner Ward.
Plate VI. Tower Green. Queen's House. Yeoman Gaoler's Lodgings.
Plate VII. White Tower from the North-west.
Plate VIII. St. John's Chapel--Interior.
Plate IX. Middle Tower and Gate. Byward Tower. Bell Tower. Queen's House.
Plate XI. New Lanthorn Tower. Old Armoury. Salt Tower. Cradle Tower. Well Tower. Irongate Tower.