In April 2023, on our way home from five weeks on a writing retreat in France, my wife and I went to London so that I could explore the Tower of London to research material for my novel, since a significant part takes place in the Tower. Most people think of it as a prison, but the Tower actually refers to the entire complex, which includes the White Tower that William the Conqueror built, an armory, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of England.
Over time, the White Tower (named for the white Caen stone imported from northern France and used for facing on top of the Kentish ragstone) served as a palace and a prison, and also housed a chapel, storerooms, grand hall, and a residential chamber.
Below is an illustration by British artist Ivan Lapper. I made some notations of areas that are pertinent to the book. The alchemy laboratorium is where the trees are in the upper right of the photo, next to the Salt Tower. The Royal Mint was on Mint Street, between the two keep walls. In 1810 the Mint moved out of the Tower to a new building on Tower Hill, then to its present home in Wales in the 1960’s.
Screenshot
From Tower Street, visitors entered the Lion Tower, where lions were once kept in cages, but were visible to intimidate strangers. The Tower had a Royal Menagerie which kept exotic animals given to the king by foreign rulers. King Haakon IV of Norway gifted Henry III a polar bear. Muzzled and chained with a collar and a stout cord, it was allowed to swim and hunt for fish in the Thames. Henry also received an elephant from Louis IX of France, who originally received it from Egypt, and a camel from Holy Roman Emperor Frederick.
Continuing on, visitors passed under the raised portcullises in both the Middle Tower and Byward Tower. A private entrance, called the Byward Postern, lead to the left, up Mint Street where coins and bullion would be delivered to the Mint.
In 1352, the time of the novel, Windsor Palace was undergoing renovation, so King Edward III kept apartments in the Wakefield Tower, while Queen Philippa stayed in Lanthorn Tower.
Middle Tower
Byward Tower
Wakefield Tower
King’s quarters
Lanthorn Tower
Great Hall in the White Tower
Cell in the Salt Tower
Tower of London 2023
This is the chapel where Queen Philippa, Isabel Lancaster, and Agnes Chaucer went to talk in private. In 1352, other chapels had been built on Tower grounds, and this was actually used as a storeroom for documents of the realm.