| Summary : The Royal Mint at the Tower of London is first referred to in the Pipe Roll of 1279-81 which records the expenditure at the Tower for buildings and equipment. There is no reference to a specific location although it has been suggested that it may have been in the vicinity of the Lion Tower. By 1300 the number of furnaces had increased to 30 for which the Mint Warden was ordered to construct a building in the Outer Ward, thus instigating the beginning of 50 years of coin production at the Tower. Evidence of the early Tudor Mint comes from archaeological evidence at Legge's Mount including a vaulted cellar, furnaces, hearths, ash pit, culvert and a large collection of metalworking finds. It is believed that this area was disused by 1560 as there are records of the Upper Mint, a building of brick and timber being constructed at the southern end of the Outer Ward near the Salt Tower. By 1585-6 the Mint Office was located to the north of the Byward Tower. Surviving remains of the Mint are between Legge's Mount and the Byward Tower in the form of a range of late 18th century buildings and was the last site of production before the Mint was moved to Tower Hill in 1812. These buildings were subsequently used as storage facilities by the Ordnance Office. |