Burning of the Tower of London

That warm feeling? In 1841? It started in the Bowyer Tower, and consumed the armory. Most of the jewels and historical items were spared.

The Tower of London appears in at least two of Scott's novels. In the fortunes of Nigel, it is not so much the Tower, but one of its implements. The so-called Duke of Exeter's Daughter, or the rack. The rack in the Tower was named after John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, who served as constable of the Tower in 1447.

In Kenilworth, the reference is to Sir Owen Hopton who was lieutenant of the Tower, and therefore in charge of torture, in the mid 1500's.