A True and Exact Draught of the Tower Liberties

Engraving after a survey of the Tower of London by draughtsmen William Hayward and John Gascoyne. This print is based on a copy of a drawing made in 1597 to accompany a report on the Tower's Liberties - the area falling under the Constable of the Tower's direct control.

The original survey, which is now lost, is the earliest known measured plan of the Tower and is full of detail. A list on the right hand side of the plate provides a key to the different parts of the Tower, while a note defines the boundaries of the Liberties.

The print shows several lost features of the Tower, including the Great Hall of the medieval palace, the Queen's Lodgings, and the warehouses in the Inner Ward that were demolished when the Grand Storehouse was built in the late 1600's. Beyond the Moat, the posts of the scaffold mark the former site of public executions on Tower Hill.