Byward Tower

Byward Tower was built in the 13th century by Henry III, on the inward bank of the moat.

[1] Byward Tower was built to defend the southwestern entrance to the Tower of London, and to do so it has a drawbridge, arrow loops, and two portcullises[2] above which are some murder holes (small shafts for pouring boiling oil or other unpleasant substances down upon an enemy attempting to break through the gate).

In one room, which formerly housed the London Mint, is the Byward Angel, a wall painting from the 1390s depicting the Crucifixion, the last remaining artwork of its kind in the Tower of London – but it is mostly obscured by a fireplace built over it later, and disfigured with a Tudor rose.

The provenance, age, and reason for the hand, and whether or not it is a bit of a joke, is either not known or not told by the Yeoman Warders.

[6] Richard II is supposed to have sought sanctuary in the Byward Tower during Wat Tyler's Revolt of 1381.