On 2 of May 1536 Anne Boleyn, Queen of England was transported by barge down the Thames from Greenwich Palace to the Tower of London. She had been arrested and charged with having had a sexual relationship with Sir Henry Norris, Mark Smeaton and another unspecified man.

In several accounts she is described as having been brought into the Tower by the Watergate at St Thomas’ Tower (Traitor’s Gate as it is known today). This is in fact incorrect and it is far more likely that she entered the fortress through the Court Gate.

Charles Wriothesley writes in his book A Chronicle of England during the Reigns of the Tudors that ‘Anne Boleyn was brought to the Tower of London…she came to the Court Gate’

What was referred to as the Tower by the Gate in the 1500s is where the Byward Tower stands today and in 1536 it incorporated the private entrance by which Royalty would have entered their private Royal Apartments.

Please click the link and see for yourself the view that confronted Anne as the cannons on the wharf sounded to confirm to the whole of London that a highly significant state prisoner had just been committed to the Tower.

The Lady in The Tower – Alison Weir