[42521] Westminster : Jewel Tower & Westminster Abbey

Jewel Tower, Old Palace Yard, Westminster, London SW1.

Grade l listed.

The Jewel Tower was built around 1365 to house King Edward III’s treasury and the office of its administrators. It was added to the south-west corner of the palace of Westminster within the walls of its enclosure, as part of the Privy Palace. The Jewel Tower is the only surviving element of the Privy Palace, the rest of which was destroyed by fire in 1512, and it is one of only four elements surviving from the whole of the palace of Westminster. It served as a base for the king’s Privy Wardrobe until the 16th century. In 1621 it was adapted for use by the Parliament Office, serving as the record office for the House of Lords. After 1716, following a petition to repair its ruinous condition, the tower lost many of its medieval architectural elements and assumed its present appearance. Between 1867 and 1938, the Jewel Tower was the base for the Weights and Measures office. Following post-war conservation works and clearance of surrounding houses in Abingdon Street and Old Palace Yard, the Jewel Tower moat was re-excavated and a small garden laid out.

 

Westminster Abbey - The Collegiate Church of St Peter.

Grade l listed.

West towers 1735-40 by Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736).

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