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Article ;~ ; • I' ¦ " • ¦ LONDON AND MIDDLESEX A... ← Page 3 of 6 →
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;~ ; • I' ¦ " • ¦ London And Middlesex A...
for the repair of this Tower in the year , 1241 , and preserved among the Liberate Rolls . * The words are these :- —" Ita quod murus dictge turris , —qui de novo est
dealbatus , " and " Et dealbari facia tis to turn veterem muruni circa ssepedictam turrim nostram . " + This building is so well known , that of its exterior we shall say but little . The summit of the walls are embattled , and at each corner rising high above the roof are four towers , three of which are square , and the fourth , which contains the clock , is round . This round tower is called the Observatory , from its having been used for scientific purposes by Flamstead , the celebrated astronomer , in the reign of Charles II ., before the erection of the Observatory at Greenwich , which was founded by that monarch , in 1675 .
The original entrance to this keep was on the north side , where , over the present doorway , there yet remain portions of an arched portal of most ample dimensions ; but the building has undergone so many repairs that it is very difficult to trace any part of Bishop Gundulph ' s exterior , except on the east side . The members of the Archaeological Society entered this time-honoured tower , which has been kept sacred from the public gaze so many years , by the doorway at the north-east corner , up the winding staircase ^ until they arrived in a large antechamber , stored with boxes filled with Enfield rifles , swords , & c . & e ., and
thence into the Council -Chamber , reputed to have been the room where our early monarchs held their court in the Tower . Here the Rev . Mr . Hugo mounted on some boxes , and read from a book a slight account of this remarkable chamber ,
and drew attention to its ceiling , walls , & c . & c . It was from this chamber , said the rev . lecturer , that Richard III ., then duke of Gloucester , ordered Lord Hastings to be led to immediate execution , alleging as a reason , that he , with Shore ' s wife , had by their sorcery wasted his body and withered his arm , and " therewith ( as in a great anger ) , " says Sir Thomas More ,
in his " Tragical History of Richard III ., " "he clapped his fist on the board a great rap , at which token given , one cried ' Treason' without the chamber ; and therewith a door clapped , and in came rushing men in harness , as many as the chamber covddhold ; and anon the Protector said to the Lord Hastings , * I arrest thee , traitor f
— What me ! my lord ? quothed he , — ' Yea , the traitor , ' quothed the Protector , ' for by St . Paul ( quothed he ) I will not dine till I see thy head off . ' It booted him not to ask why , but heavily he took a priest at a venture , and made a short shrift , for a longer would not be suffered ; the Protector made so much haste to his dinner , which might not go to it till this murther were done , for saving of his
ungracious oath . So was he brought forth into the green beside the chapel within the Tower , and his head laid down on a log of timber that lay there for building the chapel , and there tyrannous !} 7 stricken off , and after his body and head were interred at Windsor by his master , King Edward , whose souls Jesu pardon , Amen . "
This chamber must have been very dark , the windows being small , and the walls nearly ten feet thick . Additional light has been admitted into the apartment by the insertion of windows in the roof . On leaving this room , the members ascended to the leaden roof of the keep , where the flag-staff is erected , and a very fine view obtained of the river Thames , the docks , and the surrounding neighbourhood , and did not leave it until they had voted their thanks to the Rev .
* Bayley , vol i . p . 107 . t ISot . Liberat . 25 , Hen . III ., m . 20
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
;~ ; • I' ¦ " • ¦ London And Middlesex A...
for the repair of this Tower in the year , 1241 , and preserved among the Liberate Rolls . * The words are these :- —" Ita quod murus dictge turris , —qui de novo est
dealbatus , " and " Et dealbari facia tis to turn veterem muruni circa ssepedictam turrim nostram . " + This building is so well known , that of its exterior we shall say but little . The summit of the walls are embattled , and at each corner rising high above the roof are four towers , three of which are square , and the fourth , which contains the clock , is round . This round tower is called the Observatory , from its having been used for scientific purposes by Flamstead , the celebrated astronomer , in the reign of Charles II ., before the erection of the Observatory at Greenwich , which was founded by that monarch , in 1675 .
The original entrance to this keep was on the north side , where , over the present doorway , there yet remain portions of an arched portal of most ample dimensions ; but the building has undergone so many repairs that it is very difficult to trace any part of Bishop Gundulph ' s exterior , except on the east side . The members of the Archaeological Society entered this time-honoured tower , which has been kept sacred from the public gaze so many years , by the doorway at the north-east corner , up the winding staircase ^ until they arrived in a large antechamber , stored with boxes filled with Enfield rifles , swords , & c . & e ., and
thence into the Council -Chamber , reputed to have been the room where our early monarchs held their court in the Tower . Here the Rev . Mr . Hugo mounted on some boxes , and read from a book a slight account of this remarkable chamber ,
and drew attention to its ceiling , walls , & c . & c . It was from this chamber , said the rev . lecturer , that Richard III ., then duke of Gloucester , ordered Lord Hastings to be led to immediate execution , alleging as a reason , that he , with Shore ' s wife , had by their sorcery wasted his body and withered his arm , and " therewith ( as in a great anger ) , " says Sir Thomas More ,
in his " Tragical History of Richard III ., " "he clapped his fist on the board a great rap , at which token given , one cried ' Treason' without the chamber ; and therewith a door clapped , and in came rushing men in harness , as many as the chamber covddhold ; and anon the Protector said to the Lord Hastings , * I arrest thee , traitor f
— What me ! my lord ? quothed he , — ' Yea , the traitor , ' quothed the Protector , ' for by St . Paul ( quothed he ) I will not dine till I see thy head off . ' It booted him not to ask why , but heavily he took a priest at a venture , and made a short shrift , for a longer would not be suffered ; the Protector made so much haste to his dinner , which might not go to it till this murther were done , for saving of his
ungracious oath . So was he brought forth into the green beside the chapel within the Tower , and his head laid down on a log of timber that lay there for building the chapel , and there tyrannous !} 7 stricken off , and after his body and head were interred at Windsor by his master , King Edward , whose souls Jesu pardon , Amen . "
This chamber must have been very dark , the windows being small , and the walls nearly ten feet thick . Additional light has been admitted into the apartment by the insertion of windows in the roof . On leaving this room , the members ascended to the leaden roof of the keep , where the flag-staff is erected , and a very fine view obtained of the river Thames , the docks , and the surrounding neighbourhood , and did not leave it until they had voted their thanks to the Rev .
* Bayley , vol i . p . 107 . t ISot . Liberat . 25 , Hen . III ., m . 20