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<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8" /><title>The Byward Tower</title><meta name="description" content="The Byward Tower, sited at the south-west corner of the Tower of London complex next to the moat" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><meta name="theme-color" content="#960c17" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="assets/bootstrap-grid.min.css" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="assets/global.css" /></head><body><nav class="fixed-nav-bar" aria-label="fixed navigation bar"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-12"><i class="nav-s nav-s-smr"><a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=&title=" aria-label="reddit" title="Submit to Reddit" onclick="window.open('http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&title=' + encodeURIComponent(document.title)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="nav-s nav-s-smt"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?" aria-label="twitter" title="Tweet" onclick="window.open('https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%20Check%20out%20this%20awesome%20website%20' + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + ':%20 ' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="nav-s nav-s-smf"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=&t=" aria-label="facebook" onclick="window.open('https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&t=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><div id="menu" class="menu"><a class="burger show" href="#menu" aria-label="Show Link Menu"><i class="menu"> </i></a><a class="burger hide" href="#hidemenu" aria-label="Hide Menu"><i class="menu"> </i></a><ul class="menu-items"><li class="current"><a href="index.htm" aria-label="dynasties">DYNASTIES</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="celts_1.html" aria-label="The Celts">The Celts</a></li><li><a href="saxon_21.htm">Saxon</a></li><li><a href="vikings_6.html">Viking</a></li><li><a href="normans_5.htm">Norman</a></li><li><a href="plantagenet_18.htm">Plantagenet</a></li><li><a href="plantagenet_49.html">Lancaster</a></li><li><a href="plantagenet_48.html">York</a></li><li><a href="tudor_21.htm">Tudor</a></li><li><a href="stuart_15.htm">Stuart</a></li><li><a href="hanover_11.html">Hanover</a></li><li><a href="saxe_coburg_gotha_5.html">Saxe-Coburg-Gotha</a></li><li><a href="windsor_30.htm">Windsor</a></li><li><a href="genealogical_tables.htm">Genealogical Tables</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="gwynedd.html" aria-label="Princes of wales">PRINCES OF WALES</a></li><li><a href="tower_index.html" aria-label="Tower of London">TOWER OF LONDON</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="tower_london.htm">Middle Ages</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_2.htm">Tudor Era</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_3.htm">Stuart Era</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_6.html">Bloody Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_7.html">White Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_17.html">Chapel of St. John</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_8.html">Chapel of St. Peter</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_9.html">Medieval Palace</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_10.html">Beauchamp Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_12.html">Byward Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_11.html">Queen's House</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_13.html">Bowyer Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_14.html">Bell Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_15.html">Traitor's Gate</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_16.html">Salt Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_18.html">Devereux Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_4.htm">Recent History</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_5.html">Theft of the Jewels</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="crown_jewels.htm" aria-label="Crown Jewels">CROWN JEWELS</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="crown_jewels.htm">The Regalia</a></li><li><a href="crown_jewels_2.htm">The Theft Of The Crown Jewels</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="royal_residences.html" aria-label="Royal Residences">ROYAL RESIDENCES</a></li><li><a href="battles.html" aria-label="Battles">HISTORIC BATTLES</a></li><li><a href="scottish_kings.htm" aria-label="Scottish Monarchs">SCOTTISH MONARCHS</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div></nav><section class="title-bar"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-12"><div class="page-title-container"><form action="/ssep/index.php" id="demo-2" method="post"><input type="search" aria-label="search" name="sr" placeholder="Search" /></form><h1>The Byward Tower</h1></div></div></div></div></section><section class="content-bg"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-12 col-lg-12 col-xl-9"><div class="well"><div class="em-content-page"><h2>Tower of London</h2><p> The Byward Tower, sited at the southwest corner of the Tower of London complex next to the moat, is now used as the main entrance for visitors. The tower is the great gatehouse of the Outer Ward of the Tower of London and was built by <a href="plantagenet_4.htm">King Henry III</a> between 1238 - 1272 to offer additional protection to the central keep. </p><b> The Byward Tower</b><img src="images/various/bttl.jpg" alt="The Byward Tower" width="576" height="371" /><p> The tower comprised a series of defences to deter intruders including a drawbridge in the causeway, arrow loops in the twin towers and two portcullises. All these defences survive to the present day apart from the drawbridge and the inner portcullis. </p><p> The chief architect and master builder was Henry de Reyns together with John of Gloucester and Robert of Beverley. It is thought to have been built adjacent to the Warder's Hall and from this siting, the tower derived its name ( By the Warders). </p><p> The Byward Tower was further strengthened during <a href="plantagenet_8.htm">King Richard II</a>'s reign in 1381 following the<a href="peasants_revolt.html"> Peasants Revolt</a>, when Richard and his mother, <a href="plantagenet_39.html">Joan, Countess of Kent </a>sheltered in the Tower. </p><p> The building still retains its original form of two cylindrical towers although the height has been increased in the late medieval period and the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. </p><p> The magnificent medieval wall painting on the first floor of the Byward Tower is the only surviving decorated medieval interior in the whole of the Tower of London. The painting is not accessible to the general public but relates the story of the death of Christ on the Cross, the central ‘Crucifixion’ figure has now been lost, destroyed by a later fire, though the figures of the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist in mourning positions still survive. The painting is covered in gold leaf and expensive pigments such as azurite (blue), vermillion (red) and lac (deep red). </p><p> The painting is thought to date from the 1390s, during the reign of Richard II, whose patron saint was St. John the Baptist. </p><p><a href="tower_london.htm">The Tower of London</a></p><div class="cls-ad"><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display: block; width: 99%" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7894831814388455" data-ad-slot="6478924421" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="false"></ins><script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script></div></div></div></div><section class="right-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-xl-3"><div class="row"><div class="side-menu2"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><h2>Popular Tower of london</h2></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="tower_london.htm" aria-label="Middle Ages"><b>Middle Ages</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/tower/t4.jpg" /><source media="(max-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="Middle Ages" /></picture></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="tower_london_7.html" aria-label="The White Tower"><b>The White Tower</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/tower/t3.jpg" /><source media="(min-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="The White Tower" /></picture></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="tower_london_4.htm" aria-label="Recent History"><b>Recent History</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/tower/t2.jpg" /><source media="(min-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="Recent History" /></picture></div></div></div></div><div class="row"><div class="side-menu"><div class="col-lg-12 col-sm-3"><div class="well"><a href="tower_london_6.html" aria-label="The Bloody Tower"><b>The Bloody Tower</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/tower/t1.jpg" /><source media="(min-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="The Bloody Tower" /></picture></div></div></div></div></div></section></div></div><div class="social"><ul id="sprite"><li id="sprite_s"><i class="sprite sprite-1"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=&t=" aria-label="facebook" onclick="window.open('https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&t=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="sprite sprite-2"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?" aria-label="twitter" title="Tweet" onclick="window.open('https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%20Check%20out%20this%20awesome%20website%20' + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + ':%20 ' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="sprite sprite-3"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=&title=&summary=&source=" aria-label="linkedin" title="Share on LinkedIn" onclick="window.open('http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&title=' + encodeURIComponent(document.title)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="sprite sprite-4"><a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=&title=" aria-label="reddit" title="Submit to Reddit" onclick="window.open('http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&title=' + encodeURIComponent(document.title)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i></li></ul></div><div class="container"><div class="next"><div class="col-lg-12 col-xl-9"><p><span><a href="tower_london_10.html" aria-label="Previous page">The Beauchamp Tower</a> Previous</span><span>Next <a href="tower_london_11.html" aria-label="Next page">The Queen's House</a></span></p></div></div></div></section><footer class="footer"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-12 col-xl-9"><p><span>Copyright © 2004 - 2022 www.englishmonarchs.co.uk All rights reserved All rights reserved ®</span><a href="privacy.html" aria-label="privacy">Privacy Policy</a></p></div></div></div></footer><script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-89969642-1"></script><script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag() { dataLayer.push(arguments); } gtag("js", new Date()); gtag("config", "UA-89969642-1"); </script></body></html>