Liberties of the Tower of London

Liberty in Central London

The Liberties of the Tower, or the Tower Liberty was a liberty in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Central London, which includes both Tower Hill and the Tower of London. The area was defined sometime after 1200 to provide an open area around the Tower to ensure its defensibility. The liberty was an independent administrative unit from then until it was formally abolished on 25 June 1894. The district maintains a ceremonial existence, with its custom of beating the bounds being a particularly well known example of the tradition.

The liberty was founded sometime after 1200, from land that had previously part of the City of London.

The area of the liberty expanded in 1686, when letters patent granted by James II added three small exclaves; the Old Artillery Ground, Little Minories and the Liberty of Wellclose. These areas had come into the possession of the Crown when the religious houses that formerly administered them were dissolved. They were subsequently used for the storing of ordnance. From 1837, the liberty formed part of the Whitechapel Poor Law Union, a grouping of administrative areas that combined for the purposes of administering poor relief. From 1855, the area became part of the Whitechapel District for certain local government purposes.

Extra parochial places were progressively eliminated and following the Extra Parochial Places Act 1857, the Tower of London and Old Tower Without became civil parishes in 1858. The Old Artillery Ground became a civil parish in 1866, following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1867. The liberty had become obsolete by 1889 when it became part of the County of London. It was thought that the Local Government Act 1888 had removed the jurisdiction of the justices. However, the charter was found to be still in operation. The liberty was abolished on 25 June 1894, following a petition by the justices of the peace of the County of London under the Liberties Act 1850. The Whitechapel District was dissolved in 1900 and local government functions passed to the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney. The liberty continued as a franchise coroner's district. The Coroners (Amendment) Act 1926 provided that the district could be dissolved when a vacancy arose; when a vacancy occurred on 10 May 1939, an order was made on 30 November 1939 combining it with the east district. This came into effect on 1 January 1940. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London. Following boundary changes around the Minories in 1994, small parts are now in the City of London.

The population was 3,995 in 1811 and 4,190 in 1831, the large majority of these people living in the former exclaves.

The importance of the Tower has given its locality an important place in the wider national consciousness. The head of Brân the Blessed, a legendary giant, and King of Britain was said to have been buried on the White Hill, identified with either Tower Hill or the spot where the White Tower now stands, facing France, in order that its power would ward of invasion, particularly from that direction. As long as it remained there, Britain would be safe from invasion. This myth is connected with the Celtic cult of the head. However, a jealous King Arthur dug up the head, declaring the country would be protected only by his great strength, and this mistake led to the success of the Anglo Saxon invasions. The name Brân is Welsh, and translates to English as crow or raven; leading to comparisons with the ravens of the Tower of London. It is said that if the ravens were to leave, the Tower, the Crown and Britain itself would fall.

The history of the liberty is still recognised in a triennial ceremony of beating the bounds organised jointly by The Tower authorities and the local parish of All Hallows by the Tower every third Ascension Day. Ascension Day, or Holy Thursday, is a feast which falls 39 days after Easter Sunday. The party moves along the Liberty's 31 boundary stones; at each one the Chaplain exclaims “Cursed is he who removeth his neighbours landmark”. The chief warder then says “Whack it boys, whack it” and the children beat the marker bounds with their willow wands. Children take part in such ceremonies because they will have the longest recollections of them, carrying the detailed knowledge of their neighbourhood throughout their lifetime. The boundary includes the inlet known as Tower Dock. The ceremony is referred to in the name of 'The Liberty Bounds' public house (Wetherspoons) in the former General Steam Navigation Company's headquarters on the corner of Byward Street and Trinity Square.

The Tower Beach was established in 1934, on the riverfront between Tower Dock and Tower Bridge, to give local East Enders a recreational resource. Intended to last in perpetuity, the beach closed in 1971 due to pollution concerns.