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The Merchant Navy memorials are located in Trinity Square Gardens which is located to the North of the Tower of London in an area that has been known for many centuries as Tower Hill. Much of the historical information on this page is derived from External Reference #11.
Long before any memorials were built at Tower Hill, the site was used for executions of important people. Please see Executions and other Punishments at Tower Hill to learn about some of those who were executed and punished in this area and the memorial to them that is adjacent to the WW2 Memorial.
Image 1 A current view from Google Earth. The Tower of London is the large fortified building at the bottom of the image with its moat, now grassed over, clearly visible. Trinity House is in the extreme top left of the image with Trinity Square Gardens adjacent to it in the direction of The Tower. See Image 2 for the layout of the memorials on the site.
Image 2 This blow-up of the previous image has been annotated to show the position of each of the four memorials on the site
The area occupied by Trinity Square Gardens is within the walls of what was once the Roman city of Londinium; remains of the walls can be seen near the entrance to the Tower Hill underground station that is adjacent to the Gardens.
The Anglo-Saxons later inhabited this area in the 10th and 11th centuries and it is claimed that King Alfred The Great restored the walls in 896.
William I (William the Conqueror or William the Bastard), the Norman invader of England, built the Tower of London as the primary fortress in the kingdom. The area around The Tower became known as the "Tower Liberties" - a building-free area defined by the distance an arrow could be fired from the Tower. Buildings gradually encroached onto the Liberties, but the Tower Hill area, where a scaffold was erected, remained clear.
A great deal of information about the development of the site can be obtained by studying old maps.
The earliest map of Tower Hill I have been able to find is the Civitates Orbis Terrarum published between 1572 and 1617 by Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg - it is described on the map as Towre Hyll.
Image 3 shows a magnified view from Civitates Orbis Terrarum with Tower Hill in the top left quadrant. Note that at this time the moat around the Tower is shown as filled with water. The waterway leading North near the Postern Gate joined up with another area of water on the outside of the city walls off to the North out of view and called "The Citie's Ditch".
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A survey of the Tower of London area was undertaken in 1597 and engraved by Gascoyne and Haiward in 1742.
Image 4 shows Gascoyne and Haiward's map. This shows some interesting features including the location of the scaffold on Tower Hill. Note also the area to the East of the Citie's Ditch which is shown here as East Smith Piece - later to become known as Little Tower Hill, and later still East Smithfield.
Image 5 shows a magified view of the Tower Hill section of Gascoyne and Haiward's beautifully coloured map. Note the position of the scaffold used for public executions from 1381 to the late 18th Century. This is considered to be indicative rather than a precise location as scaffolds were erected and taken down as required.
Things had changed quite a lot by 1746 when John Rocque produced his map of London.
Image 6 shows a magnified view from John Rocque's map of London. Note that the area previously known as East Smith Piece is now referred to as Little Tower Hill and that there are buildings to the North and North-East of The Tower not shown on the 1617 map demonstrating clearly the encroachment that was taking place.
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A plan view of the area is provided in John Stow's 1755 map of The Tower Liberty. This area around the Tower of London was free from the jurisdiction of the City of London until the 19th Century and had its own courthouse, prison and rights.
Image 7 shows an extract from John Stow's map of The Tower Liberty. This map denotes both Great Tower Hill and Little Tower Hill. Trinity Square Gardens will later appear on the site of the North part of Great Tower Hill. Note also that the map shows trees starting to appear in the area.
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The Tower Hill area stood out as neglected compared with the surroundings. There were no defined routes roads and it was apparently used as a rubbish dump and even a quarry. At the turn of the 18th Century, local aldermen, residents and occupants of Tower Hill promoted a Parliamentary Bill for Paving, Lighting, watching, cleaning, watering, improving and keeping in repair Great Tower Hill and for removing and preventing nuisances and annoyance. An Act was passed in 1797 and included construction of a highway and the enclosure and laying out of Trinity Square Gardens. The work was led by the Corporation of Trinity House and the gardens designed by Samuel Wyatt. Wyatt was one of the greatest engineers of his age and deserves a dedicated website which I hope to construct at some future date. Compared with his other accomlishments, including construction of Trinity House itself, Albion Mill and several lighthouses, this must have been a relatively trivial task. Further details about the layout of the gardens can be found in External Reference #11.
Laurie and Whittle's 1813 Plan of London shows the first mention of Trinity Square on a map or plan.
Image 8 an extract from Laurie and Whittle's Plan of London. Note the green colouration suggestion that this is a lawned or planted area.
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Indications of the development of Trinity Square as a garden is shown on the Greenwood Pringle and Co's plan of 1827.
Image 9 shows an extract from the Greenwood and Pringle plan. Note the appearance of what looks like a number of trees in Trinity Square and what could be an indication of some kind of fence around it. There is no trace of a scaffold in this plan.
William Newton's beautifully drawn 1855 Map of London shows a slightly contradictory view with no mention of Trinity Square.
Image 10 Newton's map still clearly shows the scaffold although it had been a long time public execution had ceased at this location. It would appear that this map fails to take account of changes to the area and was based on old data.
Edward Stanford's School Board map of London of 1872 shows more encroachment on the old "Tower Liberties" with a garden area on the site of Little Tower Hill and vegetation around the moat - which is described as a ditch.
Image 11 is a extract from Edward Stanford's School Board map of London of 1872
The Boundary Commissioners Report of 1885 provides a view very similar to the 1872 map.
Image 12 is a extract from the Boundary Commissioner's report of 1885. Note the additionn of nearby Fenchurch Street station and the railway line and the Tower Subway under the Thames. There is no sign of Tower Bridge - constuction did not start until 1886.
Bartholemew's Handy Reference Atlas of London and Suburbs of 1908 shows futher developments of the area - though there is no great detail regarding Tower Hill.
Image 13 is a extract from the Bartholemew's Handy Reference Atlas of London and Suburbs of 1908. This map shops Tower Bridge that was opened on 30 June 1894, and the Mark Lane station which was opened in October 1884 to replace a short-lived Tower of London Station located about where the current Tower Hill station is now located. The station was named Mark Lane until 1946 when it was renamed Tower Hill. The station became unable to cope with the volume of passengers so was closed on 4 February 1967 and a new station was built on the site of the original Tower of London station to replace it.
Ordnance Survey Map
Image 14 is a extract from the Ordnance Survey Map of 1936 and shows the layout of Trinity Square Gardens after the construction of the WW1 memorial to Merchant Seamen. The site of the scaffold is marked and there is another feature not previously mentioned where it says "Site of The Cage". This is presumed to be some kind of place of temporary confinement - possibly for drunkards - but I have not yet found any specific details. Note also the route of the railway tunnel which passes under the site and which was presumably built using the "cut and cover" approach.
I aim to add further maps and historical data at a later date.
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