Jewel Tower (English Heritage)

Address: | Abingdon Street,Westminster, London SW1P 3JX |
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Phone: | 0370-333 1181 |
Website: | |
Opening times: | Weekends 10:00-16:00 |
How to get there: | Tube: Westminster |
Entry fee: | Admission charge (guided tours only) |
Additional information: | Shop |
The most accessible surviving part of the medieval Palace of Westminster, the small, L-shaped, three-storey Jewel Tower was once Edward III’s personal strong room, protected by a moat and known as the King’s Privy Wardrobe. Built in 1365–66, it was designed by the master mason Henry de Yevele to replace the main Privy Wardrobe in the Tower of London, at that time taken up with storing military equipment for the war against France. All that remains of the private royal palace, it dates from a similar period to parts of Westminster Abbey, as well as to the Westminster Hall, chapel and cloisters that are now within the Houses of Parliament. Until 1547 the tower continued to be used by the monarch as safe storage, although by Henry VIII’s day it was known as ‘the old jewel house’ and contained less precious items of clothing and soft furnishings. Occupied for a period by Sir Richard Shelley, last Grand Prior of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, from 1621 until 1864 the building became the repository of the official records of parliament. From 1869, the thick stone walls and relatively constant temperature of the tower’s rooms made them a suitable home for the ‘standards’ of weight and measurement used by the Board of Trade, a function they performed until 1931. |
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MUSEUMS & GALLERIES OF LONDON
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