-
Articles/Ads
Article LONDON AND MIDDLESEX AIlOHJiOLOGICAL SOC... ← Page 2 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
London And Middlesex Ailohjiological Soc...
was a recapitulation of the events attending the visit of th-e society to thatancient-fortress' in July last , and which was so amply treated upon in the pages of our Magazine last December . The new matter was an account of the Bell Tower , which could not be seen by the members on the day of the visit , this tower folmiing a considerable part of the private residence of Lord De Ros , the governor , and commonly called the Lieutenants Lodgings .
The tower took its name from the small wooden turret which still exists , and formerly contained the alarm bell of the garrison , and which little turret has now been turned into a private observatory and smoking room . This tower consists , like all those of the inner ballium , of two storeys above the basement , and was doubtless embattled , as were the others . It is of great strength , the walls being very thick , and composed of flints and rubble faced with ashlers , the thickness being exteriorly increased by a
deep splay at the "base . The date of the building is uncertain ; it has been attributed to the time of Henry III ., but the reverend lecturer considered it to have been erected in the time of John ( but adduced no reasons to enforce his conclusions ) . The basement is curiously vaulted , with deep recesses in the walls , which are of great thickness , with narrow loopholes
for windows , many of which are now filled up with rubbish . The vaulting is supported by massive ribs springing " from short . columns , which form high pointed arches . The best thanks of all archaeologists are due to the Rey . Mr . Hugo , as in his researches lie has discovered that these columns are ^ surmouiited by richly carved ornaments of leaves in the early English styfe , and drawings were shown of these foliated capitals .
The Bell Tower , like most of the other towers , was anciently a prison lodging ; and amongst the numerous prisoners who have been confined within its walls , were Fisher , bishop of Rochester , and Queen Elizabeth when princess . Fisher was a man of unaffected piety and learning * , and stood for some time very high in the favour of King Henry VIII . ; but having refused the oath of supremacy and concealed the treasonable speeches of
Elizabeth Barton , the Maid of Kent , he was deprived of his bishopric , thrown into a loathsome dungeon , and stripped of his very clothes . This aged and venerable prelate was verging on eighty years of age when he was subjected to these indignities . The winter of 1534-5 was one of the coldest on record , and his confinement was of the most rigid description , and from this tower he addressed a letter to Thomas Cromwell , then secretary of state , in the following words : —
Gude Mr . Secretary , furthermore I beseech you to be good master in my necessity , for I have neither shirt nor sute nor yet other cloathes that ar necessary for mee to wear but that bee ragged and bee rent so shamefully . Notwithstanding ! might easily suffer that , if they would keep my bodie warm . But my dyett also , God knoweth how slendar it is at rneny tymes ; and now in mine age , my stomach may not away but with a few kind of meates , which if I want 1 decay forthwith . " *
His privations , however , were not of long duration ; lie -was beheaded on Tower-hill , June 22 , 1535 . During his confinement , Pope Clement VII . conferred on him the dignity of a cardinal ; which ill-advised favour only hastened his doom , ci for ere the cap of honour had reached Calais , the head it was intended to adorn was stuck on London Bridge . " The other illustrious prisoner , the Princess Elizabeth , was arrested at Ashhrid ^ 'e where she lay sick , conveyed to "Whitehall , where she was kept for a fortnight in close confinement , and thence conveyed to the Tower , charged
*¦ Bay ley ' a Hist , of the Tower , vol . i , p . 1 , 8 (> A OT < . TV . 2 D
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
London And Middlesex Ailohjiological Soc...
was a recapitulation of the events attending the visit of th-e society to thatancient-fortress' in July last , and which was so amply treated upon in the pages of our Magazine last December . The new matter was an account of the Bell Tower , which could not be seen by the members on the day of the visit , this tower folmiing a considerable part of the private residence of Lord De Ros , the governor , and commonly called the Lieutenants Lodgings .
The tower took its name from the small wooden turret which still exists , and formerly contained the alarm bell of the garrison , and which little turret has now been turned into a private observatory and smoking room . This tower consists , like all those of the inner ballium , of two storeys above the basement , and was doubtless embattled , as were the others . It is of great strength , the walls being very thick , and composed of flints and rubble faced with ashlers , the thickness being exteriorly increased by a
deep splay at the "base . The date of the building is uncertain ; it has been attributed to the time of Henry III ., but the reverend lecturer considered it to have been erected in the time of John ( but adduced no reasons to enforce his conclusions ) . The basement is curiously vaulted , with deep recesses in the walls , which are of great thickness , with narrow loopholes
for windows , many of which are now filled up with rubbish . The vaulting is supported by massive ribs springing " from short . columns , which form high pointed arches . The best thanks of all archaeologists are due to the Rey . Mr . Hugo , as in his researches lie has discovered that these columns are ^ surmouiited by richly carved ornaments of leaves in the early English styfe , and drawings were shown of these foliated capitals .
The Bell Tower , like most of the other towers , was anciently a prison lodging ; and amongst the numerous prisoners who have been confined within its walls , were Fisher , bishop of Rochester , and Queen Elizabeth when princess . Fisher was a man of unaffected piety and learning * , and stood for some time very high in the favour of King Henry VIII . ; but having refused the oath of supremacy and concealed the treasonable speeches of
Elizabeth Barton , the Maid of Kent , he was deprived of his bishopric , thrown into a loathsome dungeon , and stripped of his very clothes . This aged and venerable prelate was verging on eighty years of age when he was subjected to these indignities . The winter of 1534-5 was one of the coldest on record , and his confinement was of the most rigid description , and from this tower he addressed a letter to Thomas Cromwell , then secretary of state , in the following words : —
Gude Mr . Secretary , furthermore I beseech you to be good master in my necessity , for I have neither shirt nor sute nor yet other cloathes that ar necessary for mee to wear but that bee ragged and bee rent so shamefully . Notwithstanding ! might easily suffer that , if they would keep my bodie warm . But my dyett also , God knoweth how slendar it is at rneny tymes ; and now in mine age , my stomach may not away but with a few kind of meates , which if I want 1 decay forthwith . " *
His privations , however , were not of long duration ; lie -was beheaded on Tower-hill , June 22 , 1535 . During his confinement , Pope Clement VII . conferred on him the dignity of a cardinal ; which ill-advised favour only hastened his doom , ci for ere the cap of honour had reached Calais , the head it was intended to adorn was stuck on London Bridge . " The other illustrious prisoner , the Princess Elizabeth , was arrested at Ashhrid ^ 'e where she lay sick , conveyed to "Whitehall , where she was kept for a fortnight in close confinement , and thence conveyed to the Tower , charged
*¦ Bay ley ' a Hist , of the Tower , vol . i , p . 1 , 8 (> A OT < . TV . 2 D