LADY JANE’S PRISON.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3110, 31 January 1924, Page 7

LADY JANE’S PRISON.

IN DANGER OF COLLAPSE. SUCCESSFUL REPAIR WORK. On© of tlie historic buildings in the Tower of London, has just been saved from the possibility of early collapse. Four hundred years or more ago some gabled houses were built against the inner wall of the Tower, facing Tower Green (the gables are visible from Tower Hill), and it was in one of these that Lady Jane Grey was imprisoned after the disastrous attempt to enthrone her as Queen. From the first-floor window she saw her husband, the Earl of Dudley, led forth from the Beauchamp Tower to his execution on Tower Hill. She watched the procession return with the headless body, and at the same time she saw the block being prepared on Tower Green for her own execution. She was beheaded the same day. It is this building which has just caused some anxiety. It broke away from the Tower wall and began to lean forward. Soon there was a> gap 14in wide between the upper part of the building and the Tower wall. Cracks also appeared in the front. The Office of Works promptly had the building shored up. It has since been repaired and pinned in short lengths, and base of the outer wall has been strengthened, and a foundation provided of reinforced concrete. A certain amount of ne« brickwork was necessary, and trie building is now as secure as ever. While the repairs were in progress it was decided to remove the plaster from the front and thus restore the building in its original condition. Some old inscriptions were disclosed; unfortunately they were indecipherable. But Lady Jane’s execution was relatively ai modern incident in the history of the Tower; it was already nearly five centuries old.