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Apr 205 min read

Traitors Gate

Updated: Apr 21

If you have ever visited London you may be familiar with Traitors Gate.

The famous river entrance to the Tower of London, Traitors Gate, can be seen by anyone passing up or down the River Thames.


Traitors Gate Tower of London

This infamous river-gate entrance to the Tower of London was designed by the Medieval architect Master James of St George on the orders of King Edward I between 1275 and 1279 as part of St Thomas's Tower.

It was originally built to provide a new water gate by which King Edward could arrive at the Tower by the river. St Thomas's Tower provided additional royal accommodation for the King and his family. The function of the Tower of London was originally to provide a royal power base in the City of London and to provide a retreat for the Royal family in times of civil disorder.

This changed over the years and was increasingly used as a prison for enemies of the state accused of treason which was entered via Traitors Gate.


The Tower was last used as a Royal residence by Anne Boleyn when she was preparing for her coronation. It was a tradition that new Kings and Queens of England would make their way from the Tower of London to Westminster Abbey for their coronation.

The death of Anne Boleyn heralded the increased use of the Tower as a prison. The water-gate under St Thomas's Tower has been known for over 300 years as the 'Traitors Gate' because of the number of prisoners, accused of treason, who have passed through it.



Anne Boleyn at Traitors Gate

The story of Anne Boleyn and her journey through Traitors Gate is a very poignant one. The twenty-nine-year-old Queen of England was arrested on the charges of treason, adultery and incest. Never a popular Queen she had been reviled by the population with cries of "Witch" and "Whore" and detested by many courtiers. King Henry VIII had been madly in love with her but this soon turned to hate when he met Jane Seymour.


Anne Boleyn

Her enemies moved swiftly against her and people started to disappear from court. Sir Henry Norris and the Queen's brother, George Boleyn, Lord Rochford were arrested and taken to the Tower of London by barge and through the Traitors Gate entrance.

On May 2 1536, the Queen herself was arrested at Greenwich and was taken to the Tower by barge along the same path she had travelled to prepare for her coronation just three years earlier. She passed through Traitors Gate and was met by William Kingston the Constable of the Tower at the top of the slippery steps leading from Traitors Gate.

Her first question was: 'Shall I go to some dungeon?'

Kingston replied, 'No, madam, you shall go to your chambers whereat your Grace lay before your Coronation.' Anne Boleyn was terrified and alternated from fits of hysterical laughter to uncontrollable weeping.

She was executed on 19th May 1536.


Elizabeth I of England

Princess Elizabeth at Traitors Gate

The story of Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth I of England, and her journey through Traitors Gate is an equally frightening one. Her sister Queen Mary (Bloody Mary) ordered her arrest believing that the Princess was involved with Sir Thomas Wyatt and a rebellious plot.

Princess Elizabeth was taken on Palm Sunday 1554, by barge, to the entrance of the Tower of London - Traitors Gate. Her thoughts must have raced back to that of her mother, Anne Boleyn, who had also passed through Traitors Gate and had been executed at the Tower when Elizabeth was just three years old.

The princess was terrified - she believed that she would never leave the Tower once she had passed through Traitors Gate. Elizabeth refused at first to land at the gate, angrily proclaiming that she was no traitor. There was a heavy downpour of rain. Elizabeth had no choice but to be led into the Tower. At the age of 21, Princess Elizabeth was taken through the Traitors Gate and imprisoned in the Tower of London. She was released 8 weeks later.

Today we can stand before the river entrance of the Tower of London, Traitors Gate and reflect on the harrowing experience of passing through knowing you may be destined to an unmerciful death by beheading or at best prolonged imprisonment.

I have stood at the entrance on two occasions when visiting London and have felt for the many victims of past persecutions who felt fear as those gates closed behind them.

But today I have a new understanding of most of all the people who passed through the Traitors Gate, that is that they must have been the most brave and stoic people in my family. They come to me through the Acton family line; Sarah Acton and her ancestors of nobility.





Further reading:

Traitors' Gate: And Other Doorways to the Past, by Claire Eamer.


Copyright © Noel Bond. Researched and written by Noel Bond, No written part of this Blog may be reproduced in any form, by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author.

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