To cover the Tower of London would take a whole book, so I will be concentrating on specific parts of it in a series of posts. We start with the Beauchamp Tower (pronounced Beecham) which sits just to the west of Execution Green. This tower was built in the reign of Edward I. It replaced a gateway which was seen as a potential weak point in the Tower's defences. It is named after one of its most distinguished "residents" - Sir Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. He was imprisoned here by Richard II in 1397. Later, in the reign of Henry V, Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, was imprisoned here. He was the inspiration for Shakespeare's character of Falstaff. He fell foul of the King when he became a follower of the Lollards - who were seen as heretics. Oldcastle was eventually hanged then burned at St Giles Fields, in 1417. It is not recorded if was still alive when he was burnt. For a time, the Beauchamp Tower was known as Cobham Tower.
You will see graffiti carved by prisoners into the walls all over the Tower, but the Beauchamp Tower has by far the biggest concentration.
The Beauchamp Tower is closely associated with the Dudley family, and hence to Lady Jane Grey - the Nine Day Queen. It is a constant source of annoyance to myself that the Tudor period is favoured above all others when it comes to historical dramas (and documentaries) on film and TV - especially when they tend to overlook Edward VI, Mary and Jane. Jane's story, in particular, is hardly talked about. There was one movie, rarely shown on TV, in the 1980's (starring Helena Bonham-Carter) and she was featured in a Sarah Jane Adventures story.
Jane wasn't incarcerated in Beauchamp Tower - but her young husband Guildford was, along with his four brothers. One of these was Robert - who as the Earl of Leicester became a favourite of Queen Elizabeth.
In 1553, when Edward VI was dying and it appeared that he would never father an heir John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and his confederates urged the young king to amend his will so that the crown would pass to his cousin Jane - rather than go to his eldest half-sister Mary. This was primarily because Mary had remained a devout Catholic, and Dudley and his friends wanted the country to remain Protestant. Dudley had his son Guildford married to Jane, to strengthen his own position. When Edward died, Jane entered the Tower to prepare for her coronation. Dudley and his friends had overestimated the amount of support their claim on the throne had - as well as underestimating the popularity of Mary. Many had felt that her mother, Catherine of Aragon, had been sorely wronged by Henry VIII, and they did not like the further religious reforms that had taken place under Edward. Mary's army arrived in England, and within a short space of time Jane had become a prisoner in the Tower instead of a guest. Dudley and his supporters joined her - including his sons. Jane was never allowed to meet with her husband throughout their long imprisonment. She would only have spotted brief glimpses of him when he was allowed to take exercise on the roof of Beauchamp Tower. And on the day he was lead out to his execution, just before her own.
Mary knew that the young couple (she had just turned 16, he was 18) were mere pawns of his father and his confederates, and so she had no inclination to execute them. However, some 8 months into their imprisonment a rebellion by Sir Thomas Wyatt attempted to overthrow Mary and put Jane on the throne. The rebellion was quickly broken, but Mary realised that whilst Jane lived, she posed a threat - a figurehead for her enemies. On February 12th, 1554, Guildford was taken from Beauchamp Tower to Tower Green and beheaded. His corpse was brought back into the Tower and Jane would have seen it as she was lead to the block herself - this time on Execution Green within the Tower itself - just in front of where her husband had been incarcerated. When blindfolded, she panicked as she could not find the block on which to rest her neck. The moment is captured in Paul Delaroche's famous painting (above).
Both Guildford and Jane lie, side by side, by the altar of the nearby Royal Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula - only a few yards north from where she was executed.
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