Supposedly fortified by Julius Caesar, the site of the Tower of
London was developed by William the Conqueror who erected the
earliest extant structure, the White Tower, in the 11th. Century.
The fortifications were enhanced and extended over the mediaeval
period and almost every style of English architecture is to be
found within the complex. Over the centuries the Tower has served
both as a royal residence, a military base and a prison and has
housed the Royal Mint, the Public Records Office, the Royal Menagerie
and the Royal Observatory.
The Tower of London is also known as a place of execution, the
earliest recorded being the beheading of Sir Simon Burley in 1388.
Edward IV erected the first permanent scaffold in 1465 and famous
people to have breathed their last in this spot include St. Thomas
More and St. John Fisher in 1535, Thomas Cromwell in 1540 and
Archbishop Laud in 1645. Two of Henry VIII's wives, Anne Boleyn
and Catherine Howard, were also beheaded here in 1536 and 1542
respectively. Although the Tower has also been the scene of executions
by firing squad in more recent times, the last beheading was suffered
by the 80-year old Jacobite, Simon, Lord Lovat in 1747. More flamboyantly,
after being convicted of plotting against his brother, Edward
IV, George, Duke of Clarence, met his end in the Tower in 1478,
supposedly by being drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine.
English monarchs up to the time of James I (1603-25) occupied
the Tower before their coronations, when they would ride in procession
through the City to Westminster.
The Armouries of the Tower can claim to be the oldest Museum in
England, housing a priceless collection of armour and arms of
all kinds. Also lodged in the Tower are the Crown Jewels including
all the regalia used by British monarchs at their coronation.
This is a particularly popular tourist attraction which draws
queues of people on most days. On the first occasion I tried to
see the Crown Jewels, I was about 9 or 10 years old and the queue
was too long. I returned over the years, but each time it was
the same story. Finally, about 5 years ago, Diana, Victoria and
I went in the week before Christmas; it was fairly deserted and
we had no trouble in viewing the fabulous collection.
Today, the Tower of London forms part of probably the most popular
site for tourists in London, with Tower Bridge adjacent and the
preserved cruiser, HMS Belfast, moored on the Thames opposite.
Formed in 1947 by designer, Geoffrey Heighway, Micromodels were
a popular form of card modelling until the late 1950s when they
succumbed to the appeal of plastic kits, especially Airfix. The
Tower of London kit was the 12th. architectural model to be catalogued
although it appeared somewhat earlier in 1950 when it was priced
at 3/4d. (c. £0.16 in today's money). To put this into perspective,
the price represented 6 or 7 weeks pocket money for me at the
time! The kit comprises 12 cards, each measuring 3½"x5",
in a paper wrapper on which are printed historical notes and a
plan of the Tower. There are no instructions provided. The first
task is to construct the base which comprises two cards. To supply
a firm base for building the model, I mounted them on a piece
of plywood, cut to size. There are many green areas, representing
the lawns and grass banks and these can be raised by affixing
extra green pieces supplied for this purpose. I then started in
the centre of the base with the imposing White Tower. The basic
internal box structure was easily built and the grey walls were
then hung on the outside. On feature of Micromodels is that, with
the small size of the models, some details need to be provided
using other materials. In this case, the flagstaffs on the towers
can be represented using pins and one of the towers finished off
with a carved wooden dome. The next stage of construction moves
to the two sets of fortifications, inner and outer which surround
the site. Each consists of a series of small towers connected
by curtain walls. I decided to make and locate each tower on the
base and then insert the wall sections. This caused some difficulties
once or twice as the wall strips provided did not always match
the distance from one tower to the next. If the wall was too long,
it could be cut shorter, and if too short, a piece of filler had
to be cobbled together. Although the towers are very small, the
cutting out of the battlements is very intricate and time-consuming.
Once the fortifications were complete, I built the other buildings
within the walls including the Waterloo Barracks and the Royal
Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula. Some fencing enclosing the moat
completes the model.
This is the first Micromodel I have ever made. Being much smaller
than current card models, it was nevertheless a challenging and
fascinating kit which builds into an attractive model which contains
a wealth of detail in a very small space.
Christopher Cooke