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London and Environs

Tower of London - During the 19th and 20th Centuries

Between 1800 and 1900 the Tower started to look pretty much as it does now. During the 1800’s the uses of the Tower began to change dramatically. The Mint moved out in 1812, the Menagerie left in 1834 and became the London Zoo, the Record Office moved out in the 1850’s, and the War Office took over storing weapons in 1855 so much of the Office of Ordnance left the Tower.

The Chartist movement in the 1840’s was about the last time the Tower was used in it’s original role of keeping the people in line. The last refortifications of the Tower happened in 1848, 1852, and 1862 as a result of this movement. The present Waterloo Barracks and the Royal Fusiliers’ building were built during this time, after the fire in 1841.

After 1850 there was less need of the Tower for protection and a rapidly growing interest by the mainstream population in history and archeology. The Tower underwent a program to re-medievalize it. In 1852 architect Anthony Salvin was made responsible for a complete restoration of the Tower. He was replaced in the 1870’s by John Taylor, who some say was far less talented an architect.

Sightseers had been visiting the Tower since 1660, but the number of visitors to the Tower increased rapidly during the late 1800’s. In 1841 the first official guidebook was published and by 1851 a ticket office was erected. By the end of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1901, over a half million people visited the Tower each year.

 

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