England, Picturesque and Descriptive: A Reminiscence of Foreign TravelCook, Joel
History
England, Picturesque and Descriptive: A Reminiscence of Foreign Travel
Cook, Joel
England -- Description and travel
The White Tower, which has walls fourteen feet thick in some parts,
covers a space one hundred and sixteen by ninety-six feet, and is
ninety-two feet high, with turrets at the angles. Each floor is divided
into three rooms, with stone partitions seven feet thick. On the second
floor is St. John's Chapel, and on the third the council-chamber of the
early kings, with a dark, massive timber roof; in this chamber Richard
II. resigned his crown; it is now filled with a vast collection of arms.
The Salt Tower, which is at an angle of the enclosure, was formerly a
prison; and in another part of the grounds is the Jewel House, where the
crown jewels are kept; they are in a glass case, protected by an iron
cage, and the house was built for them in 1842. Queen Victoria's state
crown, made in 1838, after her coronation, is the chief. It consists of
diamonds, pearls, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds set in silver and
gold, and has a crimson velvet cap with carmine border, lined with white
silk. It contains the famous ruby given to Edward the Black Prince by
the King of Castile, and which is surrounded by diamonds forming a
Maltese cross. The jewels in this crown are one large ruby, one large
sapphire, sixteen other sapphires, eleven emeralds, four rubies, one
thousand three hundred and sixty-three brilliant diamonds, one thousand
two hundred and seventy-three rose diamonds, one hundred and forty-seven
table diamonds, and two hundred and seventy-seven pearls. Among the
other crowns is St. Edward's crown, of gold embellished with diamonds,
used at all coronations, when it is placed upon the sovereign's head by
the Archbishop of Canterbury. This crown was stolen from the Tower by
Blood in 1761. There are also the Prince of Wales' crown, the queen's
crown, the queen's diadem, St. Edward's Staff, four feet seven inches
long, made of beaten gold and surmounted by an orb said to contain part
of the true cross, and carried before the sovereign at coronation; the
royal sceptre (surmounted by a cross), which the archbishop places in
the sovereign's right hand at coronation; the rod of equity (surmounted
by a dove), which he places in the left hand; several other sceptres;
the pointless sword of Mercy, the swords of Justice, and the sacred
vessels used at coronation. Here is also the famous Koh-i-noor diamond,
the "Mountain of Light," which was taken at Lahore in India. The ancient
Martin or Jewel Tower, where Anne Boleyn was imprisoned, is near by; the
barracks are on the north side of the Tower, and behind them are the
Brick and Bowyer Towers, in the former of which Lady Jane Grey was
imprisoned, and in the latter the Duke of Clarence was drowned; but only
the basements of the old towers remain. The Tower Chapel, or church of
St. Peter's, was used for the cemetery of the distinguished prisoners
who were beheaded there, and in its little graveyard lie scores of
headless corpses, as well as the remains of several constables of the
Tower.
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