Tower Hill Terrace - Byward Street, London, UK
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Master Mariner
N 51° 30.543 W 000° 04.730
30U E 702706 N 5710481
Tower Hill Terrace is located on the south side of Byward Street to the immediate east of All Hallows-by-the-Tower church and to the west of Tower Hill and Tower of London.
Waymark Code: WMN72A
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/08/2015
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member MeerRescue
Views: 7

The plaque is set into the floor of the vaults beneath the terrace. The vaults are accessible to the public and contain shops and food outlets. The plaque is at a junction of the passageways leading through the vault. The plaque is circular in shape and has some decorative work around its edge and is inscribed:

Tower Hill Terrace

On this site stood
The Mazawattee Tea Warehouse
built in 1864 and demolished during
World War II.
The site was originally known as
St Katherine's Rents
bestowed in 1370 upon the
Royal Hospital at St Katherine's
by the Tower.
The building was re-opened after
refurbishment in September 1991 by
Sir Alexander Graham GBE DCL
Lord Mayor of London

1864 - 1991

The vaults are Grade II listed with the entry at the English Heritage website telling us:

Mid C19 vaults on 3 levels below public terrace. Remains of a warehouse destroyed in the 2nd World War. Yellow brick wall to south eastern portion with rough granite dressings to 2 doorways etc and western part altered with modern shop. Standard fire-proof construction with circular iron columns and cambered brick vaults spanning between closely set beams. Main cross wall with 5 aisles to western part which formerly supported large warehouse. Additional gallery to north, south and west of this portion. Iron spiral staircase and plain stone stair with iron rail. Eastern portion is in Borough of Tower Hamlets.

The Tower Hamlets Heritage Statement tells us:

Tower Vaults was listed Grade II in 1973. The list description reads:
“Mid C19 cellars. Half in City of London. Situated below raised public terrace. Outer doorway with rusticated stone quoins set in partly rebuilt wall. C19 crane alongside. Wine cellars on 3 levels, 20 ins thick walls. Earlier cellars on this site said to have connections with All Hallows Church, the Tiger Tavern and the Tower of London. Iron spiral staircase and plain stone stair. Cylindrical iron pillars support brick vaulted roof set on closely set beams. Vats of 1910 - 12 of unusual Swiss design lined with glass set in concrete. These cellars are the last survivor of the formerly extensive wine trade of this area”.

HISTORY TO C.1970: Tower Vaults forms the lower levels of a massive warehouse completed in 1864 and occupied up to the Second World War by the Mazawattee tea company. The identity of the architect/engineer responsible for the building, commissioned by tea merchant George Myers, is not known. The warehouse was long regarded as a negative presence, obstructing views of the Tower. Its removal was a prime objective of the Tower Hill Improvement Trust, founded in 1933, with the Rev. P.B.Clayton, incumbent of All Hallows from 1922 to 1962, as a leading light. Badly damaged by wartime bombing, the building was finally demolished c.1950 and a public square, Tower Hill Terrace, laid out (to designs by Hannen & Markham) on top of the retained lower levels. A somewhat bleak space, Tower Hill Terrace is approached from All Hallows churchyard through gates with decorative sculptures by Cecil Thomas (1885 - 1976) – Thomas was responsible for several monuments in All Hallows church.

The surviving vaults were occupied from the late 1950s until 1973 by the wine merchant Asher Storey, founded by Gerald Asher in 1955 and notable for pioneering the marketing of then little-known wines to the British market.

LATER HISTORY: Even after the improvements of the post-war years, Tower Hill was generally regarded as an unworthy preface to the Tower of London. The 1960s Tower Place office development (now replaced by an office complex by Foster + Partners) did nothing to improve the area. In 1976 the publication Save the City described Tower Hill as consisting of “an amorphous series of roadways... Temporary and semi-permanent refreshment kiosks are untidily disposed on the western side of the space”. It concluded that “the surroundings of the Tower still present an immense opportunity for really imaginative environmental improvement”.

The upper level of Tower Vaults was converted as part of the Tower Hill Pageant visitor attraction, designed by Terry Farrell Partnership and completed in 1991. It appears that the principal elevation to Gloucester Court was largely rebuilt as part of this project and a pavilion, now demolished, added on Tower Hill. The Tower Hill Pageant was not a commercial success and Tower Vaults was subsequently converted for retail and restaurant uses, which remain today.

Tower Hill was transformed as a result of the major project to redesign the environs of the Tower completed in 2004 (for client Historic Royal Palaces) to designs by Stanton Williams. Visitor facilities are contained in a series of lightweight glazed pavilions – the Tower ticket office adjoins the eastern edge of Tower Vaults. A similar aesthetic characterised the restaurant space (now occupied by Costa Coffee) located above the ticket office and designed by architect Dyer (2007).

Type of Historic Marker: Plaque

Age/Event Date: 09/30/1991

Related Website: [Web Link]

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Historical Marker Issuing Authority: Not listed

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