History
#98
Jewel Tower
A rare survivor of medieval Westminster: a stone keep (c.1360s) tucked behind Parliament. Three compact floors explain its shifts—from royal strongroom to the nation’s weights-and-measures office. It’s a 30-minute time capsule with better storytelling than you expect.
Opening Hours
Sunday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Monday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
What's not to miss inside?
Medieval Strongroom
Built to guard royal valuablesThick walls, slit windows and original timbers show a palace that mostly vanished in later centuries.
📍 Lower floors
Standards of Weight & Measure
How Britain kept trade honestAfter the royals moved on, precision moved in—official yardsticks and gallon measures lived here.
📍 Upper exhibit space
Parliament in Miniature
A quiet counterpoint to the Palace next doorPanels link the tower’s survival to fires and rebuilds that reshaped Westminster.
📍 Throughout
Café Nook & Garden Seats
Pause in a medieval footprintA rare calm pocket in Westminster for a short reset.
📍 Ground floor & outside
Inspire your Friends
- Built for Edward III in the 1360s, the tower outlived the 1834 fire that destroyed most of the old Palace of Westminster.
- From the 1860s the tower housed the Board of Trade’s standards—official yard and pound prototypes that underpinned fair commerce.
- It’s one of only two major survivors of the medieval palace—the other is Westminster Hall.
