The Tower of London has a long history of brutality and execution.
Inside the walls, two of Henry VIII’s Queens would lose their heads in shocking scenes
and Lady Jane Grey would also be executed by an axeman at the orders of Bloody Mary
I.
But it was a place where the executions continued into the 20th century.
During the First World War, 11 spies were executed inside the firing range that is there,
and the final execution occurred with Josef Jakobs a Second World War spy being executed
in the same manner.
For over 500 years the Tower was a site of death and depravity, however there was also
another horrifying practice that occurred there.
Torture was used there by the leftenant of the Tower to extract information from high
profile prisoners.
Horrific devices such as the rack were used, and one man Nicholas Owen even died on the
stretching device.
But there was a secret torture device and chamber used that struck fear into the hearts
of the prisoners, and today it has been lost to time.
But we can guess where the infamous torture chamber and dungeon of Little Ease was.
Join us today as we look at this oubliette inside the Tower of London.
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Torture at the Tower of London has made the site very fearsome.
It was where James I allowed Guy Fawkes to be subject to the gentler devices such as
the thumbscrews before he was broken on the rack.
But one of the most feared and savage tortures or even execution methods was the oubliette.
This was a tiny dungeon or simply a hole in the ground where someone was thrown in with
no chance of getting out.
There would be no light and the prisoner would be plunged into horrific conditions.
The term oubliette came from the French terms of to forget, and that was the aim of the
dungeon.
Someone would be forgotten and left to die with no food.
To quicken the inevitable death up, guards would sometimes throw excrement and litter
into the oubliette with the prisoner to increase the chances of them getting an infection.
The oubliette was so tight and packed that often a prisoner would be forced to crouch
or hover in one position as they would not be able to lie down, stretch out and stand
up.
This would add to their psychological and physical torture, and there was simply no
way out.
But there was a cell found inside the Tower of London that acted in this same manner.
The location of this cell known as Little Ease today is not particularly known, but
there are a few possibilities.
First is that it is found in the dungeon of the white tower, and in the basement inside
the oldest part of the Tower.
One photograph of the cell claiming to be Little Ease was taken in the dungeons beneath
the White Tower that today lead to the gift shop.
This photo shows a rather ominous sight of blackness within Little Ease, and above the
door is the plaque that shows its name.
But there are other ideas that Little Ease could be in the basement of the Flint Tower
another one of the fortress’ Towers.
But why was Little Ease so terrifying?
It was a lightless cell in which the prisoner would be plunged into complete darkness, and
it was designed as a 1.2 square metre big space.
It’s not even known if this was made by a mason or a particularly savage guard who
decided to take a pickaxe to the basement of the Tower to carve out the turturous cell.
The fact Little Ease was so small and constrained in its design means that it was impossible
for an adult human to either stand, sit down or lie down meaning they would be in a uncomfortable
position 24 hours a day, and with this its how the cell got its name, as there was Little
Ease or relaxation found in the cell.
It was kept as the ace up the sleeve of the jailers at the Tower, and was used in extraordinary
circumstances and often with other devices too such as the rack.
As someone was deep underground also and in a crevice in a wall, its likely their screams
would never be heard.
It was used during the Tudor Period and after, a time when leftenants of the Tower were innovating
their torture ideas with devices such as the Scavenger’s Daughter being used.
One of the first recorded uses of the prison came during this time period, and occurred
following a remarkable story in which a Beefeater helped a female prisoner escape.
Alice Tankerville had coerced her jailer John Bawd to help her escape, and the pair its
believed fell in love.
However they did manage to escape the Tower, but were arrested shortly outside the Tower’s
walls by night-watchmen.
This was seen as the ultimate disgrace, a Tower’s jailer who was supposed to uphold
law and order and keep prisoners under close watch was helping them to escape.
But John Bawd is known as the first occupant of the infamous cell of Little Ease.
It was said of the pair, that Alice Tankerville was ‘hanged in chains at the low water mark
upon the Thames on Tuesday, (where she was drowned) but John Bawd is in Little Ease cell
in the Tower and is to be racked and hanged.’
Bawd’s racking was done by other beefeaters who were disgusted by his actions, but his
ordeal inside Little Ease would have been terrifying, and he would have been left to
contemplate his imminent demise and suffering.
Other cells like Little Ease can be found in castles, and one in Warwick Castle is incredibly
tight and shows you the constraints that prisoners would be forced into.
The Oubliette at Warwick was so feared that its reputation quickly spread to France and
the French soldiers during the 100 Years War, and Little Ease’ reputation would also spread.
The authorities would do anything it took to ensure that they had as much information
from a prisoner.
But there were other accounts throughout the 16th and 17th century of Little Ease being
used.
We do have a few names of people who were imprisoned in the tiny cell.
For example, ‘On the 3rd May 1555, Stephen Happes for lewd behaviour and obstinacy, committed
this day to the Tower to remain in Little Ease for two of three days till he may be
further examined.’
Another account states, ‘10th January 1591, Richard Topcliffe is to take part in an examination
in the Tower of George Beesley, seminary priest, and Robert Humberson, his companion.
And if you shall see good cause by their obstinate refusal to declare the truth of such things
as shall be laid to their charge in Her Majesty’s behalf, then shall you by authority hereof
commit them to the prison called Little Ease or to such other ordinary place of punishment
as hath been accustomed to be used in those cases, and to certify proceedings from time
to time.”
It was also believed that Edmund Campion, a Catholic jesuit priest was held inside Little
Ease for 4 days after Elizabeth I began to persecute Catholic priests in an attempt to
stamp Catholic worship out in her country.
But the most famous prisoner of them all to end up inside of Little Ease was Guy Fawkes,
one of the lead conspirators behind the Gunpowder Plot.
Guy Fawkes was found inside the Houses of Parliament in the basement along with a huge
amount of gunpowder.
The plan was a Catholic plot which would have seen James I and his royal family, along with
most of his government being blown to Kingdom come and killed.
The Catholics were fed up with the persecution suffered under James I and also his predecessor
Elizabeth I, but they were discovered.
James I himself had signed the warrant allowing Fawkes to be tortured, and he said that he
should be tortured gently to begin with before further harsher measures were used.
As Fawkes gave up nothing really, he was subject to harsher tortures including the rack.
It was the rack that broke him, but also its believed he was thrown in Little Ease.
This could have been done after his racking, which meant he could possibly have been thrown
in with dislocated bones and torn ligaments inflicted by the device.
It could have been Little Ease that helped Fawkes to name his co-conspirators and friends
who led the plot to kill the King.
After Guy Fawkes’ torture inside the cell, it was later said that Little Ease was disused
and beyond use.
The darkness and the airless room would be rather tragic and brutal, but it’s likely
that there were more victims of the cell.
It’s clear that it was used in rather serious matters, but the prison of Little Ease would
be terrifying.
It was almost like an Oubliette as it was underground, and almost just a little opening
in the wall.
Today as mentioned Little Ease is lost to time but it’s almost certain that the dungeon
existed and also that it still exists today.
If it does not it would have been bricked up by a mason.
We do know that inside the basement of the White Tower was where most of the torture
took place, and that screams would not be heard inside of the subterranean prison.
Today its rather eery in the basement, and there are a number of rooms that are large
in their size, and one of them in particular looks like a torture cell at Warwick Castle.
But Little Ease was an oubliette or a cell that was incredibly brutal.
The psychological torture caused by the dungeon would have been as bad as the physical torment
of being forced to crouch in one position for 24 hours a day, for days on end.
It helped to communicate the Tower of London’s brutal reputation for torture and horror in
a time in it’s history where it was used heavily as a prison and a formidable one.
You certainly did not want to be inside of Little Ease.
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