The Jewel Tower

About The Jewel Tower

Medieval tower in Westminster, London, England, UK

The Jewel Tower is a small 14th-century stone tower facing the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, one of the very few survivors of the medieval Palace of Westminster that burned in 1834. It was built in 1365–66 under William of Sleaford and the master mason Henry Yevele to hold King Edward III's personal treasure of gold, jewels and plate, in a secluded corner of the palace guarded by a moat linked to the Thames. Its ground floor has carved stone vaulting that the historian Jeremy Ashbee called 'an architectural masterpiece'. It remained the royal treasury until 1512, when a fire drove Henry VIII's court to Whitehall. From the end of the 16th century the House of Lords used it to store parliamentary records, with major improvements in 1621 and in the 18th century that gave it its present look. It was one of only four buildings to survive the burning of Parliament in 1834, after which the records moved to the new Victoria Tower. From 1869 to 1938 it housed the Standard Weights and Measures Department, which kept and tested the official standards here until traffic vibration made the work impossible. Restored after wartime damage and opened to the public, its three floors now display the early history of Westminster and the tower's successive uses, a short, quiet stop between Westminster Abbey and Parliament.

Where:

London, United Kingdom