Project Partner
Traitor’s Gate at the Tower of London
Our Partner for this research project is Historic Royal Palaces and specifically the Tower of London. For centuries the Tower has been associated with treason: a space where British traitors were traditionally imprisoned and sometimes executed. Examples are Anne Boleyn (1536), John Gerard (1597), Algernon Sidney (1683), Lord Lovat (1747) and Roger Casement (1916). The Tower, as a fortification and weapons store, was also at times a focus for ‘traitors’ who were seeking to seize power in London.
The purpose of our partnership with the Tower is knowledge transfer beneficial to both sides. Our project members will learn new ways of interpreting treason from this engagement with a key heritage site promoting public history. In turn, historians and other experts at the Tower will benefit from engaging with discussions about the nature of treason and traitors, feeding this knowledge into their shaping of public history in exhibitions and other media. In spring 2026 the partnership will conclude with a hybrid conference at the Tower about ‘The Impact and Heritage of Treason’.