Jewel Tower
A small moated tower built in the 1360s to guard Edward III's treasure, one of few survivors of the old Palace of Westminster
Open to visitorsan English Heritage site — check opening times and admission before you go
Edward III had this small tower built in 1365-66 to keep his jewels and silver plate safe, within the grounds of the old Palace of Westminster and ringed by its own moat, part of which still survives today. The royal mason Henry Yevele designed it, with Hugh Herland as carpenter, and the work was largely finished within a year. Because the tower stood apart from the main palace buildings, it escaped the great fire of 1834 that destroyed almost everything else, having already spent centuries as the House of Lords’ record store; from 1869 it took on a new role as the Board of Trade’s weights-and-measures testing office, until 1938. Inside, the ground floor keeps its original 14th-century stone vaulting, carved with faces and animals among the bosses, and the three floors now hold displays on the tower’s various lives. English Heritage charges admission to go in, and Westminster Abbey Chapter House and the Cenotaph are both within easy walking distance.
