CHAPTER 7
Gunpowder and Fire

The Tower of London has been the center for several government departments. In the Middle Ages, one of these was called the Privy Wardrobe. It started as the office in charge of the king’s private possessions. This meant clothing and furniture. It also included treasure, documents, and arms and armor.

The importance of the Wardrobe grew and changed. It became the department that stored and kept track of all the weapons, armor, and gunpowder that the king would need if he went to war.

Some of the armor was so beautiful that it was put on display for people to admire. In the seventeenth century, an exhibit was set up. It showed life-size figures of every ruler since William the Conqueror. They were all on horseback, and—except for Queen Elizabeth I—they were all dressed in their finest armor.

In 1666, a terrible fire broke out in London. It looked like the fire might reach the Tower. The Tower was full of half a million pounds of gunpowder. If all that gunpowder exploded at once, it would destroy the building. And it would take most of London with it.

Men from the navy quickly began carrying gunpowder from the Tower to ships on the river Thames. From there, it could be floated to safety. This was a very dangerous job. The air was full of ashes and sparks. If a single one hit a barrel of gunpowder, the barrel would catch fire and explode. Then the whole area would go up in flames. Against the odds, the men safely got all the gunpowder away. And the fire was stopped before it reached the Tower.

Like most governments, the kings of England produced a lot of paperwork. For many years, all important papers were kept with the king, no matter where he was. The king didn’t just live in one palace. He would move around the country, staying in various mansions along the way. And all these papers had to come with him wherever he went.

By the late thirteenth century, there were so many papers that this was impossible. So the papers were stored in the Tower. There was no special room for them, and no organized system to keep track of them. The papers had to compete for space with the gunpowder and the prisoners. They were just kept on the floor, all mixed up. It wasn’t until the early twentieth century that the papers got their own building to be stored in.