A Visit to Tower of London Beach - Find History on the Thames Foreshore

I’ve visited the Thames Foreshore at various points over the last few months, but visiting the ‘beach’ just in front of the Tower of London was quite a privilege. I went with a group called the London Cultureseekers which is part of a larger organisation. You can read about them in a previous article I wrote, here. 

We are  guided along the foreshore by Natalie Cohen, an archaologist from the Thames Discovery Programme  who spend most of their time measuring and recording changes to the permanent structures on the foreshore. They have lots of activities going on relating to the Thames foreshore, so if this sort of thing interests you, check out their website.

If you are planning a trip to London you might want to include a visit to some part of the Thames foreshore. You’ll certainly  see London’s past from a new perspective.

Soon we are face-to-face with one of history's most infamous structures.

Traitors' Gate is the old entrance from the River Thames which used to lead straight into the Tower of London. Its forbidding archway has swallowed up the likes of Thomas More, Elizabeth I when she was Princess Elizabeth, Ann Boleyn and Catherine Howard, to name but a few unfortunates.

As you can see, it is bricked up on the outside because the river has risen to such an extent over the centuries. But the bricks do nothing to dilute the chill presence of this infamous piece of architecture.  

Here's a photograph of Traitors' Gate from inside the Tower of London area. 

Normally you might get a quick glimpse of the infamous,  bricked up  mouth as you sail by on a tourist boat - but today we get an intimate, close up view.

For a little while we might stop our happy search for the humble debris of the past and glance at this seemingly mundane, banal archway through which so many went to their deaths. They would have passed under London Bridge and seen the horrifying sight of the heads of previous 'traitors' displayed on spikes.  Catherine Howard saw her lover, Thomas Culpepper, in this way as she went to the Tower.

For a few seconds, gazing at this entranceway to death you imagine it's you - and a little shiver runs up your spine. Time to move on...

Time to carry on collecting the ephemera of past daily lives, probably the less sensational lives of ordinary people like us, trying to get by, living their lives in blessed obscurity - pottery and shells and pipe stems and Roman ware, locks, Tudor pins, glass bottles, wine stems, Victorian crockery, mediaeval roof tiles, a plastic 20th century toy soldier...

Part of the foreshore is closed to us because volunteers are busy working there - and also it is considered too dangerous.

But it wasn't always like this.  Years ago families from the East End of London used to come down to the beach and pretend they were at the seaside!  

Take a look at this delightful short video to see how popular the Tower of London foreshore was in the old days!

Unfortunately, due to a number of deaths by drowning in the swift and deadly currents of the Thames, the foreshore was eventually closed to the public.

At the end of our exploration of the beach we lay out our finds on the stretch of sand underneath the wall of the foreshore and Natalie helps us to identify them.  This is a chance to see what each of us has managed to pick up and to learn about them too.  

So here is just a very small example of the humble treasures we found on our visit to the Tower of London foreshore. 

Shown above are two gorgeous tops from Roman amphorae.  These are about 2,000 years old. It's great to find one - but two is a bonus.

An amphorae was a pottery vessel made for transporting products, both dry and wet.

But in the main they were used for transporting wine.  You can see a number of amphorae stacked up in the picture to the left.  Elegant, aren't they!

We've always got to be aware of the tide  when exploring any part of the Thames foreshore, so it's soon time to make our way up the stone steps to the embankment above.

It's a different world up there - the tranquility of the beach is in sharp contrast to the buzzing, chattering, photo-taking, ice-cream licking, crowds of happy tourists who've come to have a look at William the Conqueror's creation.

It's been a great experience!  And I can't wait for the next visit to the Thames Foreshore.

Further Suggestions:

You can find out all about the Thames Discovery Programme by visiting their website here.

And why not join the London Cultureseekers, even if you are just visiting London, and take advantage of the great Meetups on offer - including of course the Thames Foreshore visits.  Their website can be found here.

To find out more about the Thames Foreshore visit my articles below which give more information about how to find out about tides, health and safety,  what to expect, etc.