pen country would have been seriously impeded by the
extensive marshes (not as yet embanked and reclaimed) that then skirted
the northern bank of the Thames.

[Illustration: THE TOWER OF LONDON.

_Engraved by Hollar, 1647._]

According to the _Saxon Chronicle_,[1] King Alfred "restored" London in
886, and rebuilt the city wall, where it had become ruinous, upon the
line of the ancient Roman one; and, until the Norman Conquest, it seems
to have remained practically unaltered, nor does it appear to have been
damaged by the various Danish attacks in 994, 1009, and 1016,[2] though
frequently repaired afterwards during the Middle Ages. Without the
wall was a wide and deep ditch, while between the edge of the ditch and
the foot of the wall was the characteristic "berm," or external terrace,
about ten feet in width.[3] There is every reason to suppose that this
wall and ditch extended right across what is now the inner ward, or
bailey of the Tower, as far as what was then the river bank, to a point
somewhere near the site of the present Lanthorn Tower "k," where it
turned to the west; for when, in 1895, the range of buildings of
fourteenth century date (then known as the Great Wardrobe, "3") that
formerly concealed the eastern face of the White Tower was removed, part
of the ancient Roman wall was found to have been preserved within it,
and a fragment, having the usual bonding courses of Roman tile bricks,
has been spared, which may now be seen above ground close to the
south-east angle of the keep, together with the remains of the Wardrobe
Tower "s." If a line is drawn northward from this point[4] across the
present moat, it will be found to meet what remains of the old city
wall, which is still partly visible above ground in a yard known as
"Trinity Place," leading out of the eastern side of Trinity Square, on
Great Tower Hill. Such Roman remains as have been found within the Tower
area do not tend to favour the supposition that any large buildings,
save ordinary dwellings of the period, ever occupied the site. On his
first approach to the city from Kent, when Duke William discovered that
so long as he was unable to cross the Thames London could not be
immediately reduced, after burning Southwark in order to strike terror
into the citizens, he left it a prey to internal dissensions, and having
in the meantime received the submission of the ancient Saxon capital of
Winchester, he passed round, through Surrey, Berkshire, and