ABSTRACT
In the short time that the building has been open to public view, there has been general acceptance that the Jewel Tower was built in the mid-1360s specifically to store jewels and plate of Edward III’s treasure. Documentary and archaeological evidence have concurred that it stood on land seized from Westminster Abbey. This paper contains a review of the immediate setting of the new tower, a revision of its place in medieval administrative history, and a debate around its interpretation as a specially designed treasury.
