The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-11-02
london Graphic.l


disappointed. The passage does, in
deed. lead to a dungeon, and a mos
horrible one. but there is no commu
nication with the white tower. 1t run
straight from the moat into the dun
geon, but the dungeon is completed,
isolated from all parts of the fortress
and its communication with the upper
air is by a shaft which descends int
the passage.
By permission of the office of work.
representative of the Daily Graphic
was allowed to descend the shaft anC
inspect the passage and the dungeon
under the guidance of Mr. May. the
clerk Of the works. Arriving at the
tower and presenting his pass at the
office of Mr.. May, that gentleman first
exhibited to his visitor in the little yard
behind his Office the objects discovered
in clearing out the shaft and passage
! These consist mainly of masses OF
green glazed ware such as was COM
mon throughout the middle ages; sew
eral broken brown jugs. known as bell
larmIes. and pieces of coiorei delft
and Fulham ware-all, no doubI, frag-
ments of the broken utensils of the
/ garrison, thrown down the shaft after
the dungeon had ceased to be used, in
Eiizabcthan times and later. More in
teresting than these relics are numbers
Z of cannon balls, of stone and of iron,
which were found in the excavation.
Some of the iron balls have marks on
! them. One has been found marked
with the letter r." To others pieces
of bohe and timber are still adhering.
1t is believed. with great probability.
/ that some at least of these round shot
were fired at the tower by the Protest
ant rebels under Sir Thomas Wyatt.
The "R" mark on one of the balls may
be that of the arsenal at Rochester.
~ ~. . - - l. l.
advancing oD London.
Wyatt, as is well known, headed a
rebellion of Kentish men when the fear
spread that the Spaniards were coming
TO CONQUER the realm after the queen
had set her heart on the marriage with
Philip of Spain. The stirring tale is
briefly told by Green.
The ships in the Thames submitted
to be seized by the insurgents. A party
of Tire train bands OF London. WHO
marched under the Duke of Norfolk
against them. deserted to the rebels in
a mass, with shouts of a Wyatt a
Wyatt, We are all Englishmenr Had
the insurgents moved quickly on the
capital it's gates would have been flung
open and success would have been as
sured. But in the critical moment
Mary was saved by her queenly cour-
age. Riding boldly to the Guild Hall.
she appealed. with a mans voice, TO
the loyalty of the citizens, and when
Wyatt appeared on the Southwark
bank the bridge was secured" Wyatt
pushed on up the river, crossed at
Kingston. turned back on London. and
was finally defeated and made prisoner
at Temple Bar. II have kept touch"
he cried at the gate, but his adherents
within were unable to make the prom
ised diversion in his favor, and Wyatt
was sent to the tower and beheaded- 1t
seems probable that the cannon balls
now discovered were fired either by
the ships in the river or from the other
side by the artillery which Wyatt had
with him on his march. But the tower.
even on its most vulnerable side, the
river front, was impregnable to any
force of foot or artillery which Wyatt
could bring against il. The bones which
adhere to some of the cannon shot seem
to tell OF some execution done-ghaStly
relies, maybe. Of some of the garrison
who fell in the bombardment.
One of the most interesting finds was
a mass of Roman cement. in which was
imbedded three of the well known tiles
with which the Roman architects band
ed their walls. The cement is, as usual,
of extreme hardness. With this were
portions of the fiueS of hypOcauSt and
broken vessel of Roman earthen-
ware. There never was any real doubt
that a Roman fortress existed on the
site of the tower; tradition has been
constant TO that effect. The Roman
wall of London touched the river at
the point where the tower stands. and
Roman masonry undoubtedly lies at
the the base Of some of the existing
medieval walls. The discovery of
these Roman remains close to the
White tower is interesting, as showing
that it was there probably that one of
the principal dwellings of the Roman
garrison stood. Another interesting OBJ
ject is the wooden handle of dagger
of the fifteenth century. Of the type
which has lobe on each side of the
guard.
These relics inspected. the passage
and dungeon were next visited. Mr..
Mays workmen having lighted the in
terror with candles, some idea could |
be formed of its size and aspect. The /
bottom of the subterranean passage is |
seventeen feet beneath the level of the |
ground, and the shaft by which access 1
to it is gained. and by which. no doubt, |
the prisoner who was doomed to suffer |
in il was lowered descendS straight |
into it. Toward the .noat the passage /
was closed by strong iron grille firm |
~ Embedded in the masonry; at its /
other end is the dungeon, a horrible /
black cell, oval in shape: originally
and measuring about seven
feet across. When the opening of the
shaft above was closed. no ray of light
could penetrate into this terrible prison.
save that which came-if indeed even
that could come-from the opening Gar
away in the moat. The exploration of |
the passage has revealed the fact that I
another subte-ranean passage leads in
to IL at right angles from the Traitors
gate, so that it is probable that pris-
oner brought into the tower by water
through that gate could have been put
into the passage without setting foot
on the ground. However this may be.
Il is certain that no man condemned to
the oubliette of the tower-for such
this dungeon was--could have lived
long The damp. darkness. any the
rats must have made short work of
HIN.