The Tower moat is immediately before us. It is drained and used as a parade ground. Beyond it, as we approach the entrance, we have a good view of the fortifications. On the extreme left are the Brass Mount and North Bastions. In the middle is Legge's Mount. To the right is the entrance gateway. The highest building behind is the White Tower, easily distinguished by its four turrets. In front of it are the Devereux, Beauchamp, and Bell Towers, the residences of the Lieutenant of the Tower and of the Yeoman Gaoler being in the gabled and red tiled houses between the last two. From one of these windows Lady Jane Grey saw her husband's headless body brought in from Tower Hill, by the route we now traverse; and the leads are still called Queen Elizabeth's Walk, as she used them during her captivity in 1554.
The Lion Tower
stood where the Ticket Office and Refreshment Room are now. Here the visitor obtains a pass which admits him to see the Regalia, or Crown Jewels, and another for the Armoury. In the Middle Ages and down to 1834 the Royal Menagerie was lodged in a number of small buildings near the Lion Tower, whence its name was derived and the saying arose, "seeing the lions," for a visit to the Tower. Where the wooden gate now stands, there was a small work called the Conning Gate. It marked the boundaries of Middlesex and the Tower Precinct. Here prisoners were handed over to the Sheriff.
The Middle Tower (Pl. I)
was originally built by Henry III, but has been entirely refaced. Through its archway we reach the stone bridge, which had formerly in the centre a drawbridge of wood. We next reach
The Byward Tower (Pl. II),
the great Gatehouse of the Outer Ward. It is in part the work of Henry III, and in part that of Richard II. Observe the vaulting and the dark recesses on the southern side. We pass on the left
The Bell Tower (Pl. IX),
which may safely be attributed to the reign of King John. Here Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was imprisoned by Henry VIII, and the Princess Elizabeth by her sister, Queen Mary. The "Curtain Wall," of great antiquity, is pierced by the windows of the Lieutenant's Lodgings, now called "The King's House," and one of these windows lights the Council Chamber, where Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators were tried and condemned, 1605.