The Tower of London as a Royal Palace
Alfred Hawkins
Alfred is a historian, buildings archaeologist, curator and broadcaster. He has worked in commercial archaeology and the heritage sector as an Archaeological Researcher, Archaeologist and, subsequently, a Historic Building Specialist. Since 2018, Alfred has been Assistant Curator of Historic Buildings for HM Tower of London and the Banqueting House, Whitehall for Historic Royal Palaces, and since 2023 he has been Cathedral Archaeologist for Portsmouth Cathedral. In these roles he has acted as the principal curatorial and historic advisor on several large-scale projects. Alongside this, Alfred regularly makes on screen appearances on documentaries including BBC2’S Digging for Britain, Channel 5’s Inside the Tower of London and Discovery Channel’s Unearthed.
About the event
The Tower of London is one of the most important, sensitive and multifaceted sites in the world. Now a Scheduled Monument, UNESCO World Heritage Site and tourist attraction, the fortress is predominantly known as a place of imprisonment, persecution and torture - and the home of many of England’s most enduring myths. While this perception hardly paints an image of luxury, one of the Tower’s most important roles was its use as a royal palace. Though little now remains of these once sprawling royal buildings, the development of the Tower as a royal palace within what was often a hostile city had a profound impact on the evolution, status and use of the fortress throughout the medieval period. This talk will explore the development and use of these buildings alongside their wider impact upon the fortress as a whole from the construction of the White Tower between 1078-1100 through to the final flourish of royal occupation in the 1530s.