I have attempted no pictorial description of the Tower as a whole or in its several parts. I dared not carry the theory I have just propounded into the realms of word-painting. Mr. Fulleylove has relieved me of that duty. He has brought the Tower buildings, as they stand to-day, before the eyes of all who turn these pages. This he has done with the brush infinitely better than I could do it with the pen. Though the pages at my disposal are so few in number, I have had the temerity to attempt a description of much that is of interest outside Tower walls. I trust that this boldness may not prove, after all, to be a misplaced virtue. My wish has been to persuade those who come to visit the Tower that there is a great deal to be seen in its immediate vicinity that the majority of visitors have hitherto neglected, either for want of time or want of guidance. A noble and historic building like the Tower resembles a venerable tree whose roots have spread into the soil in all directions, during the uncounted years of its existence, far beyond the position of its stem. I tender grateful thanks to Lieutenant-General Sir George Bryan Milman, K.C.B., Major of the Tower, for much kindness, both to Mr. Fulleylove and myself; and I can hardly express my indebtedness to the Rev. W. K. Fleming, who has so ungrudgingly given of his time to the task of correcting the proof-sheets. ARTHUR POYSER. TRINITY SQUARE, TOWER HILL, E.C. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER II HISTORICAL SKETCH 21 CHAPTER III A WALK THROUGH THE TOWER 87 CHAPTER IV A WALK ROUND THE TOWER 134 CHAPTER V TOWER HILL 158 CHAPTER VI ALLHALLOWS BARKING BY THE TOWER 169 INDEX 215 When our gallant Norman foes Made our merry land their own, And the Saxons from the Conqueror were flying, At his bidding it arose, In its panoply of stone, A sentinel unliving and undying. Insensible, I trow, As a sentinel should be, Though a queen to save her head should come a-suing; There’s a legend on its brow That is eloquent to me, And it tells of duty done and duty doing. “The screw may twist and the rack may turn, And men may bleed and men may burn, On London town and all its hoard It keeps its solemn watch and ward!”