Tower Dock is an inlet of the Thames immediately west of the Tower of London . Only the head of the dock remains with the rest having been filled in during the late 1950s.
59-584: Tower Dock lay immediately west of the Tower of London's entrance complex, and contributed to the defensibility of that complex. The dock formed part of the boundary of the Tower Liberty , an area managed by the Tower of London, in part to ensure that there was a clear undeveloped area around the fortress, as the presence of buildings would have given cover to attackers. These boundaries of the Liberty have been inherited by
118-478: A Leet Jury in 1525, and again as surveyed by Haiward and Gascoyne in 1597. From the mid-seventeenth century, the liberty was part of a larger liberty, the Tower Division or Tower Hamlets which was independent of the county of Middlesex , carrying out Hundred and County responsibilities locally. The area of the liberty expanded in 1686, when letters patent granted by James II added three small exclaves ;
177-767: A Trained Band, soldiers with higher status and value than ordinary Militia. In 1685, during the Monmouth Rebellion , King James II raised a force of infantry from the Tower of London garrison; the Tower Hamlets Militia. The Regiment was formed of two companies of Militia and one of miners and was known as the Ordnance Regiment and was soon renamed the Royal Fusiliers , after the fusil, the type of musket they were equipped with. The Tower Hamlets Militia helped form
236-557: A further amalgamation saw the loss of local identity in this last Tower Hamlets unit and the last of the Tower Hamlets name in the British Army. Some current British Army units, recruited on a much broader geographical basis, count Tower Hamlets units as part of their historic lineage. Various historical sources list different components of the division, but its overall area remained the same. The Metropolitan Police Act 1829 enumerated
295-705: A higher population. It is thought that duty had its origin in the rights and obligations of the Manor of Stepney which once covered most or all of the Hamlets area, with the Constable of the Tower also having responsibility for the upkeep of the local part of the Thames and Lea . Tower Hamlets units are recorded as being present at the Tilbury muster in August 1588, when Elizabeth I reviewed
354-533: A militant radicalism though, as evidenced when the war-weary poor of Stepney, seeking compromise with the King, partially demolished a parliamentarian strongpoint in the Lines of Communication , a ring of parliamentary fortifications around London. Despite this the support for Parliament remained generally robust throughout the coming war. The strategic importance of the Tower, together with its money and munitions meant Charles I
413-506: A new London Regiment , though the Tower Hamlets units retained their local identities and traditions and affinities gained while attached to regular regiments. The 4th Bn Royal Fusiliers (previously the 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade) became the 4th Bn while the 9th Bn The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) (previously the 2nd Tower Hamlets) became the 17th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Poplar and Stepney Rifles) . Both these units saw extensive combat in
472-404: A second attempt to persuade him and Skippon's force dispersed when the Constable returned from parliament just before 10pm. It seemed that the historic local bonds proved more powerful than the highly charged political affiliations of the day. Under normal circumstances Skippon would have been put on trial and executed for his actions, but Parliament swiftly exonerated him. Before the outbreak of
531-456: A second boat awaited him in the river. He was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower. 51°30′29″N 0°04′44″W / 51.508°N 0.079°W / 51.508; -0.079 Liberties of the Tower of London The Liberties of the Tower , or the Tower Liberty , was a liberty in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , Central London, which includes both Tower Hill and
590-609: A series of amalgamations. The longest to bear the local name were the Tower Hamlets Rifles who went through the Second World War as infantry. Both these Tower Hamlets Battalions (9th and 10th) of the Rifle Brigade were amalgamated to form 656th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (Tower Hamlets) TA in 1947 and from 1961 to 1967 were known as the 300th (Tower Hamlets) Light Air Defence Regiment RA (TA) . In 1967
649-486: A small force of Yeoman Warders , but these were supplemented by sometimes large numbers of local Hamlets men, known as Hamleteers . The area also provided the Tower Hamlets Militia, which could be deployed in the field in the event of invasion or rebellion. There was no peacetime standing army in England until the interregnum , and when regular units were formed they were typically raised from wider geographical districts than
SECTION 10
#1732848025396708-546: Is conflicting evidence around the county-level civil responsibilities exercised by the Tower Division; the extent to which the civil autonomy mirrored the military autonomy, and for how long. Unlike the other divisions, the Tower Division was outside the jurisdiction of the Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex, with the Constable of the Tower exercising lieutenancy powers, usually with the ex-officio title of Lord Lieutenant of
767-633: The County of London . It was thought that the Local Government Act 1888 had removed the jurisdiction of the justices. However, the charter was found to be still in operation. The liberty was abolished on 25 June 1894, following a petition by the justices of the peace of the County of London under the Liberties Act 1850 . The Whitechapel District was dissolved in 1900 and local government functions passed to
826-508: The First World War . The army's need for expansion saw the 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment "duplicated" to form four battalions (1/4th, 2/4th, 3/4th and 4/4th); while the Poplar and Stepney Rifles were "duplicated" to form the 1/17th, 2/17th and 3/17th. The Tower Hamlets Engineers, by now a part of the wider Royal Engineers and retaining their local identity but not their name,
885-468: The London Borough of Tower Hamlets , as part of its boundary with the City of London . The origin of the dock is obscure but may represent a section of the natural shoreline left behind when the wharves on either side were built. The first stage of Tower Wharf, to the east, was extended out into the river around 1276–1324. The dock appears to have once been much more extensive. A report written in 1623 described
944-607: The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney . The liberty continued as a franchise coroner's district . The Coroners (Amendment) Act 1926 provided that the district could be dissolved when a vacancy arose; when a vacancy occurred on 10 May 1939, an order was made on 30 November 1939 combining it with the east district. This came into effect on 1 January 1940. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London. Following boundary changes around
1003-502: The Minories in 1994, small parts are now in the City of London . The population was 3,995 in 1811 and 4,190 in 1831, the large majority of these people living in the former exclaves. The importance of the Tower has given its locality an important place in the wider national consciousness. The head of Brân the Blessed , a legendary giant, and King of Britain was said to have been buried on
1062-671: The Old Artillery Ground , Little Minories and the Liberty of Wellclose . These areas had come into the possession of the Crown when the religious houses that formerly administered them were dissolved . They were subsequently used for the storing of ordnance. From 1837, the liberty formed part of the Whitechapel Poor Law Union, a grouping of administrative areas that combined for the purposes of administering poor relief. From 1855,
1121-525: The Royal Artillery (RA) as an Anti-aircraft artillery unit, the 60th (City of London) AA Brigade, RA (TA) . The unit retained its Tower Hamlets identity, if not its name, and saw action on the home front and in continental Europe. Descendant units of the Tower Hamlets Engineers were also extensively involved in the conflict. After the war the Tower Hamlets units lost their identities through
1180-402: The Tower of London . The area was defined sometime after 1200 to provide an open area around the Tower to ensure its defensibility. The liberty was an independent administrative unit from then until it was formally abolished on 25 June 1894. The district maintains a ceremonial existence, with its custom of beating the bounds being a particularly well known example of the tradition. The liberty
1239-619: The White Hill , identified with either Tower Hill or the spot where the White Tower now stands, facing France, in order that its power would ward of invasion, particularly from that direction. As long as it remained there, Britain would be safe from invasion. This myth is connected with the Celtic cult of the head . However, a jealous King Arthur dug up the head, declaring the country would be protected only by his great strength, and this mistake led to
SECTION 20
#17328480253961298-589: The White Tower as its cap badge at this time and used the Tower of London moat for training and drilling. Machine Gun elements of this unit were sent to the 2nd Boer War and earned a battle honour at Colenso . In 1904 the 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade (THVRB) was transferred from The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) regiment to the Royal Fusiliers a historic regiment originally formed in 1685 primarily from Tower Hamlets men. In 1908 London's reserve infantry forces were re-organised to form
1357-535: The " parishes , townships , precincts and places" of the Tower Division for inclusion within the Metropolitan Police District , while the Militia (Tower Hamlets) Act 1796 specified how many men each component should supply to the division's militia . From 1832 to 1885 there was a Parliamentary Borough named "Tower Hamlets", after the Tower Division. From 1832 to 1868 it occupied the same boundaries as
1416-488: The 2nd Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corps became the 9th Battalion and the 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade (THVRB) also joined the regiment but retained its own name. In 1881 these latter two unit became part of the East London Brigade for training and mobilisation purposes but remained part of The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) regiment. The 1st Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Brigade (THVRB) used
1475-562: The English troops available to face the expected Spanish invasion . It was there that the Queen delivered her famous Tilbury address . The size of the Hamleteer contribution to the Tower's garrison seems to have varied greatly. Records from 1610 show a modest 9 men per night on duty, but in 1641, a tight of great tension, 552 Hamleteers are recorded as guarding the Tower on a nine-night rota. The size of
1534-536: The Fusiliers and subsequent Tower Hamlets reserve units would come under the organisational wing of the regiment. The regiment later became known as the 7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers) and The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) before merging with other Fusilier regiments to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in 1968. The modern regiment is headquartered at the Tower of London, where laid up Colours of
1593-429: The King relied on local Militias such as that of the Tower Hamlets. Generally speaking these forces were county based and very reluctant to leave their home areas. A notable few organised "Trained Bands" of more highly motivated and reliable men willing to spend more time training – Tower Hamlets had a large Trained Band ready to serve outside the Liberty and this would later be organised into two regiments. By early 1643,
1652-487: The Tower Division, with the best known MP for the area being Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda , a well known shipbuilder and an officer in the 2nd Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corps . After 1868, population growth saw the constituency split in two; the southern part of the area kept the name Tower Hamlets while Hackney , Shoreditch and Bethnal Green became part of a new Hackney constituency. The southern, Tower Hamlets constituency, persisted until 1885. The name "Tower Hamlets"
1711-642: The Tower Hamlets is not known. Under Skippon's leadership, the Tower Hamlets Trained Bands saw action at Basing House (1643), Cropredy Bridge (1644), Newbridge (1644) and on their own territory, when the Yellow regiment fought at Bow Bridge in 1648. Regimental Flag designs varied but some versions featured the Tower of London's White Tower with the Traitors' Gate watergate in the foreground. The troops wore buff sleeveless jackets to mark them out as
1770-432: The Tower Hamlets . This began when the right of the Constable to exact guard duty was extended in 1605 to the raising of a militia, the Tower Hamlets Militia. Counties were the principal way in which military forces were raised and the creation of the liberty and exemption from county based obligations saw East London made a distinct military unit. The Metropolitan Board of Works was established in 1855 in order to lead on
1829-466: The Tower Hamlets forces, together with those of Westminster and Southwark joined those of the City under the command of Sir Philip Skippon , who had previously tried to get the Tower Hamlets troops to betray the Tower to him before the start of the war. By 1644 The regiment of the Tower Hamlets is estimated to have 2-3000 men, while the strength of the reserve Yellow regiment of the Auxiliaries of
Tower Dock - Misplaced Pages Continue
1888-473: The Tower Hamlets; however, the area has provided some examples of regular forces. The earliest surviving reference to the inhabitants of the Tower Hamlets having a duty to provide a guard for the Tower of London dates from 1554, during the reign of Mary I . Sir Richard Southwell and Sir Arthur Darcye were ordered by the Privy Council in that year to muster the men of the Hamlets "whiche owe their service to
1947-508: The Towre, and to give commaundement that they may be in aredynes for the defence of the same. This was long before the creation of the Liberty, and as the Hamlets are described as "owing" service there must have been a customary duty long before that date. Some believe the relationship goes back to the time of the Conqueror, but others suggest it came later in the medieval period when the Hamlets had
2006-635: The area became part of the Whitechapel District for certain local government purposes. Extra-parochial places were progressively eliminated and following the Extra-Parochial Places Act 1857 , the Tower of London and Old Tower Without became civil parishes in 1858. The Old Artillery Ground became a civil parish in 1866, following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1867 . The liberty had become obsolete by 1889 when it became part of
2065-400: The armed forces re-organised and given more supervision and support from central government. The local engineer unit became known at this time as the 2nd Tower Hamlets (East London) Engineer Volunteers . The infantry units retained their local identity but became reserve forces attached to a regular regiment, The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) . The Militia became the 7th Battalion,
2124-469: The case of the Tower Hamlets supplemented the existing militia. These Volunteer units were raised by members of the community with the permission of their county's Lord Lieutenant , but as Tower Hamlets was effectively a 'county within a county', having its own Lord Lieutenant (the Constable of the Tower ), it raised units in its own right (though in the Tower Hamlets, as elsewhere, not all units raised bore
2183-508: The city wall would later cause legal confusion. The liberties had an administration separate from the neighbouring county and city, headed by the Constable of the Tower of London , appointed their own coroner, and had their own courthouse with general and quarter sessions and gaol. A force of constables was appointed for the area. The inhabitants had certain other privileges such as being able to claim any beast that fell from, and any swans under, London Bridge . The boundaries were presented by
2242-474: The contribution varied according to which area's men were on duty: on one evening Whitechapel provided 45 men, while on another Hackney , Bow , Bromley-by-Bow and Old Ford together provided 85. In the lead-up to the war, London and the eastern counties were broadly in sympathy with Parliament and against the King , with the Tower Hamlets being notably ardent in its parliamentary sympathies. This wasn't always
2301-475: The dock "between Thames Street and Tower Hill" was filled in with rubbish from the locality. In the late 1950s, all but the head of the dock, was filled in and paved, during the construction of the now demolished and replaced Three Quays House. In 1617 Walter Raleigh led an unsuccessful attempt to plunder Spain's colonial empire in the Americas and also find the mythical city of gold, El Dorado . The expedition
2360-516: The dock as the remaining part of a moat around a now lost feature called the Bulwark , built around 1480, which was the outermost part of the Tower's western gateway complex. It is not known whether it was a wet or dry moat but it presumably connected to the main moat. At the time of the report the Bulwark still stood, but its moat, save for the surviving part of Tower Dock, had been filled in. In 1706 more of
2419-603: The eponymous modern London Borough of Tower Hamlets together with most of the modern London Borough of Hackney ( Shoreditch and Hackney proper ). The Liberty was seen as synonymous with East London until East London extended further, east of the Lea and into Essex . The Tower Division was formed sometime in the 17th century but the much older administrative units comprising the area were united in shared military obligations long before this time. The Liberty had judicial and some local government responsibilities, and its military function
Tower Dock - Misplaced Pages Continue
2478-521: The first English Civil War, parliament had managed to use political pressure to get the King to install a Constable, Sir John Conyers, sympathetic to their cause. Knowing his position in London was weak, the King fled the capital before war broke out in the summer. The Tower proved an extremely valuable asset to Parliament throughout the war. In the early years of the English Civil War both Parliament and
2537-597: The fortress in a coup de main by persuading the Hamleteers to let his force into the Tower, hold it and thereby transform the strategic and political situation in the capital. Skippon called on the Sergeant on the Iron Gate to let his men through so that the Tower would fall into Parliament's hands. The Serjeant would not let them in, and the force waited for some time in the hope that he could be talked round. The Sergeant refused
2596-543: The local parish of All Hallows by the Tower every third Ascension Day . Ascension Day, or Holy Thursday , is a feast which falls 39 days after Easter Sunday . The party moves along the Liberty's 31 boundary stones; at each one the Chaplain exclaims “Cursed is he who removeth his neighbours landmark”. The chief warder then says “Whack it boys, whack it” and the children beat the marker bounds with their willow wands. Children take part in such ceremonies because they will have
2655-408: The longest recollections of them, carrying the detailed knowledge of their neighbourhood throughout their lifetime. The boundary includes the inlet known as Tower Dock . The ceremony is referred to in the name of 'The Liberty Bounds' public house ( Wetherspoons ) in the former General Steam Navigation Company's headquarters on the corner of Byward Street and Trinity Square. The Tower Beach
2714-484: The name of their Lord Lieutenancy area). A significant number of units were raised, a noteworthy example being the East Metropolitan RVC (11th Tower Hamlets) which was entirely made up of Jewish Volunteers. The profusion of units, some very short lived before being amalgamated or discontinued, makes the lineage of Tower Hamlets units sometimes unclear. The Cardwell Reforms of 1871 saw the volunteer element of
2773-579: The popular Philip Skippon from 12 January. Around 20 January, the Constable (with the permission of the King) answered a summons and appeared before a House of Lords committee in Westminster to answer for his build-up of armaments. That night, with the Constable away, Skippon led a force of 500 men of the London Trained Bands under the cover of darkness, to the narrow streets of St Katharines district, by
2832-485: The provision of infrastructure in the capital, and this is likely to have led to a reduced responsibilities for the Tower Hamlets JPs. The area's special status ceased in 1889 with the creation of the County of London , and the creation of a Lord Lieutenant for the new county. The Tower division appears to have persisted as a magistracy area well into the 20th century. The Tower of London was normally garrisoned by
2891-567: The regiment are kept. The Fusiliers also maintain a museum at the Tower. While most UK militia fell into disuse in the early 19th century, the Tower Hamlets Militia endured, becoming known in the late 19th century as the Tower Hamlets Militia (Queen's Own Light Infantry) and using the White Tower as its cap badge. An invasion scare of 1857 saw the creation of the Volunteer Force which included both Engineer and Rifle Volunteer Corps and which in
2950-557: The responsibilities – judicial, civil and military – normally exercised at county level, making the Tower Hamlets a "county within a county", comparable to the Ridings of Yorkshire . The area had its own Justices of the Peace (JPs) , appointed by the Constable of the Tower (as Lord Lieutenant) , who administered both judicial and civil functions, mainly through their quarter sessions . The usual civic functions of JPs in England included: There
3009-554: The riverside, just east of the Tower. Skippon and his men approached the Iron Gate , a small now lost feature (its site, on the east bank of the moat, is under the Tower Bridge Approach Road), outside the moat which protected a postern which opened out from the Develin Tower. The Tower was protected by a force of Hamleteers, but Skippon knew the areas political loyalties were with Parliament. Skippon believed he could seize
SECTION 50
#17328480253963068-476: The success of the Anglo-Saxon invasions. The name Brân is Welsh, and translates to English as crow or raven ; leading to comparisons with the ravens of the Tower of London . It is said that if the ravens were to leave, the Tower, the Crown and Britain itself would fall. The history of the liberty is still recognised in a triennial ceremony of beating the bounds organised jointly by The Tower authorities and
3127-492: Was a failure and the King of Spain applied enormous diplomatic pressure for Raleigh's arrest and execution. Expecting him to be seized at any moment, Raleigh's wife arranged an escape plan. Raleigh donned a disguise and made his way to Tower Dock where a boatman awaited him. The boat slipped out into the Thames, intending to take Raleigh downstream to Tilbury where a ship awaited. But Raleigh had been betrayed by someone he trusted;
3186-582: Was also heavily involved in the conflict. In 1926 the Poplar and Stepney Rifles was renamed the 17th London Regiment (Tower Hamlets Rifles). In 1937 the London Regiment was abolished and the Tower Hamlets Rifles were transferred back to The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) regiment, seeing action in North Africa and Italy. The increasing importance of aerial warfare saw the former 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment being transferred to
3245-460: Was also known as the Tower Hamlets , and took its name from the military obligations owed to the Constable of the Tower of London . The term 'Hamlets' probably referred to territorial sub-divisions of the parish of Stepney – and its daughter parishes – rather than to the usual meaning of a small village. In contemporary terms, the Liberty covered inner East London , the area now administered by
3304-517: Was careful to install a Constable of the Tower , John Byron , who was loyal to him. In late December 1641 and early January 1642 Byron brought in stores of artillery and other armaments, parliament responded by putting a guard, a limited siege, using the City of London Trained Bands (the Tower Hamlets Trained Band garrisoning the Tower were separate from the City of London Trained Bands) under
3363-496: Was established in 1934, on the riverfront between Tower Dock and Tower Bridge, to give local East Enders a recreational resource. Intended to last in perpetuity, the beach closed in 1971 due to pollution concerns. As well as many well-known members of the Tower of London community, the Liberties have also been home to: Tower division The Tower Division was a liberty in the ancient county of Middlesex , England . It
3422-408: Was founded sometime after 1200, from land that had previously part of the City of London . The area originally comprised three small liberties : In everyday speech, the term Great Tower Hill came to apply to Tower Hill inside the city wall , with Little Tower Hill referring to the area outside the wall. The presence of a unit called Great Tower Hill which covered only part of the area inside
3481-473: Was unique. The growth of population around the City of London led to the Ossulstone Hundred being divided into four divisions, with each division taking on the role of the hundred . The other three divisions of the hundred were named Finsbury , Holborn and Kensington . The Tower Division was different from the other divisions in that, as well as taking on hundred responsibilities, it also took on
#395604