Hung Drawn and Quartered
26–27 Great Tower St, London EC3R 5AQ
And now the French
William, Duke of Normandy, was aghast at the news that Harold Godwinson had been crowned King Harold II at Westminster Abbey in December 1065. He believed he had been promised succession of the English crown by his pious uncle, King Edward the Confessor years earlier in Normandy. Edward’s passing was followed swiftly by the coronation of Harold II – an act that precipitated a showdown between the forces of Harold and William at the Battle of Hastings. The outcome is well-known. Harold died from arrow in the eye and on Christmas Day 1066 King William I had his coronation at Westminster Abbey. To maintain some form of continuity, William offered an agreement to the civic leaders of London – swear allegiance to me, pay your taxes and I’ll leave you alone to which they conceded. The document charting this agreement, the so-called William Charter, is still cited as the basis of the City of London’s independence from the monarchy and HM Government. It can be seen at the Guildhall Art Gallery.
William’s builders quickly got to work constructing a series of (Caen) stone castles around the country – the most famous being the Tower of London. Its main fortifications faced north into the City as if in readiness for rebellion. The Tower would become the centre of English monarchy for 500 years, until King Henry VIII moved the royal court to the Palace of Westminster. The Tower was variously a palace, garrison, armaments store, a prison, a place of execution, a mint, the first location of London Zoo and a place of worship. St John’s Chapel is London’s oldest. It has hosted many well-known prisoners (e.g., Walter Raleigh, Thomas More and Princess Elizabeth I) and seen some infamous executions (e.g., Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard).
The Normans were the last to conquer England. There would be other attempts (e.g., the Spanish Armanda, the Napoleonic Wars and the Nazis in the Second World War, but none would succeed. The British are now so accustomed to the infiltration of French into the English language that they forget the origins of names such as Bill, Dick and Bob are from the Norman Conquest!
The Hung Drawn and Quartered takes its name from the ghastly death reserved for those convicted of treason. Despite this association, it’s ideal to combine with a visit to the Tower and sample modern craft beers and cask classics. It is positioned opposite another of London’s oldest must-see churches, All Hallows by the Tower; boasting an original Saxon arch, a Roman mosaic pavement and a fascinating 3D model of Roman London.
Today, the Tower is well-known as the home to the Crown Jewels dating from the Reformation of the monarchy in 1660 – Oliver Cromwell’s puritans had the originals melted down to pay for the fledging republic.
