| Summary : The Jewel Tower, or 'King's Privy Wardrobe', was built between 1364 and 1366 as a royal treasury for Edward III. It formed the south-west corner of the former Privy Palace of Westminster. According to 14th century accounts the architect was Henry Yevele. The tower is L-shaped in plan with a polygonal stair-turret on the north side. It is three storeys high and built of stone rubble with Portland stone dressed windows. The basement features Tierceron Vaults. Between about 1599 and 1864 the tower was used as the repository for Parliamentary records. In 1621 a brick fireproof vaulted strongroom was added on the first floor as a reaction to a fire that happened in 1619. This features an iron door dated 1621 with the original lock. By 1716, the upper part of the tower was ruinous. The upper floor was converted to provide more space and the parapets and windows were renewed in 1718-19 by Nicholas Hawksmoor. By 1864, the Parliamentary documents had moved to the newly completed Victoria Tower, and between 1869 and 1938 the Jewel Tower was used as the Office of the Standards Department, housing the official weights and measures. Following damage during the Second World War, it was restored and opened to the public, its moat being re-excavated. The quay retaining walls of the dock which antedates the Jewel Tower were excavated in 1963-4 and now form the retaining walls of the moat on the North, West and South sides of the tower. The Palace of Westminster sword, dating to the early 9th century and discovered during the renovations just after the Second World War, is on display in the tower. |
More information : Royal Treasure House, later repository, forming the South-West corner of the former Privy Palace of Westminster. 1364-6 by Henry Yevele with windows and parapets renewed in 1718-9. L-plan tower with North polygonal stair-turret. (1)
The Jewel Tower was used as a treasury from 1366. From 1621-1864 it was used as the repository for all of the Parliamentary records. By 1716 the upper part of the tower was ruinous and was repaired, and the upper floor converted to provide more space, by Hawksmoor from 1718-9. By 1864, the Parliamentary documents had moved to the newly completed Victoria Tower, and from 1869-1938 the tower was used as the Office of the Standards Department, housing the official weights and measures. Following war damage, it was restored and opened to the public, its moat being re-excavated. The quay retaining walls of the dock which antedates the Jewel Tower were excavated in 1963-4 and now form the retaining walls of the moat on the North, West and South sides of the tower. These are listed Grade I and scheduled. (2-3)
The Jewel Tower, or 'King's Privy Wardrobe', was built circa 1365 to house Edward III's treasures. One of only two buildings of the original Palace of Westminster to survive the fire of 1834, the tower features a 14th-century ribbed vault. The Jewel Tower was home to the Weights and Measures Office between 1869 and 1938. The Palace of Westminster sword, dating to the early 9th century and discovered during renovations just after the Second World War, is on display in the tower. The remains of a moat and medieval quay are still visible outside (4)
The Jewel Tower was in use as the repository for the House of Lords records by 1599. In 1621 a fireproof vault was added to house records in response to a fire that had occurred at the Banqueting house in 1619. (5)
A guidebookto the fourteenth-century tower, situated opposite the Houses of Parliament, that was originally the south-west corner tower of the garden of the medieval Palace of Westminster. An unrestored ribbed vault, window embrasures, and an internal door are notable features of the building, and part of the fishpond/moat is still visible on its south side. The tower served as a royal treasure house until 1621, when it was converted to house government documents, and in 1869 it became the official Weights and Measures office. (6)
Work on an area of new paving and a disabled access ramp was monitored during redevelopment works for a new ticket office. Archaeological deposits comprised of several 18th century brick walls and a section of medieval wall were recorded behind the building. (7)
Report on archaeological excavations carried out between 1992 and 1997 at Westminster, taking into account investigations that took place in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Excavations by the Jewel Tower uncovered the construction trench for the moat wall and found a surviving stretch of the Westminster Abbey great drain. (8) |