26 June 2026 Tower of London, St Magnus the Martyr, and Southwark Cathedral

 I made a trip today to the Tower of London. I have not been here for nearly 35 years, and things have changed quite a bit since then. Back then in 1991, I was a Captain in the USAF, deployed out of Pope AFB NC to RAF Mildenhall. We had one day to take a bus from the airfield to London, so we had to make the best of our day. The three things we did, was to get opening round tickets to Wimbledon, visit the Tower of London, and stop by Westminster Abbey. 

Today, I took Terry to the Tower, followed by a short walk to see St Magnus the Martyr Church, near the North shore of the Thames near London Bridge, then a short walk across the bridge to Southwark Cathedral. 


The Tower of London has elements of Roman Walls interspersed with Norman Construction. It was where the Kings of England made their residence for the better part of 400 years. It has served as an Armory, a Palace, a Prison, and a Zoo. I have had at least 17 ancestors who were associated with the Tower of London, but 35 years ago, I hadn't embarked on my genealogy journey, and had no clue how I was connected to the tower. Today I returned to investigate those connections.


One particular place I wanted to go to was St Peter ad Vincula Chapel, located next to Tower Hill, the execution site where many a noble lost their life and their heads. Several of my ancestors were supposedly buried there. The first is Lady Margaret Plantagenet, who was buried here in 1541. 

After seeing the crown jewels this morning, Terry and I headed to the Bell Tower to get a free tour of the Tower by a Yeoman Warder (Beefeater). His name was Lwiv (Nev) Dednam, and he told the story of Margaret de la Pole, a 70 year old Lady who did absolutely nothing wrong, yet was beheaded by Henry VIII without a trial. I didn't know this at the time, but this was my ancestor, Margaret Plantagenet, who married Sir Richard Pole, 8th Earl of Salisbury, in 1491.

Richard and Margaret had 5 children, one of who, Reginald Pole, was the Archbishop of Canterbury while Henry VIII was King. In 1537, Reginald was elected a Cardinal, without ever being ordained as a priest. A vocal man, Reginald was also a staunch Catholic, and was very forthcoming with his opinions of Henry VIII and his Church of England. Henry wanted his head, but couldn't get to him, since he was at the Vatican, staying away from his homeland while the threat of death was on his head. Since Henry couldn't get Reginald, he instead arrested his mother, Margaret, and imprisoned her in the Tower of London. Her execution happened on 27 May 1541.

When St Peter ad Vincula Chapel was being refurbished in 1876, her remains were found buried there, and she was Beatified by the Pope as being a Martyr for the Catholic Church. 

Another ancestor of mine executed at the tower of London was Edward Neville in 1538. He was in the good graces of King henry VIII until he ran afoul with Thomas Cromwell, Henry's Advisor. He also happened to be a cousin of Reginald de la Pole. Because of the issues with Cromwell, and the relationship with Pole he was labeled a traitor, tried, and executed. Two years later, Thomas Cromwell was executive when he fell out of favor with the King. 

The next stop was St Magnus the Martyr Church in London. I only had one ancestors associated with this church, but did not find any evidence of him when I visited the church today. 


Situated right next to the London Bridge, the church had a small model of the Old London Bridge, and a painting showing the Old and New London bridges side by side. 




Here are a few more pictures of the Church from today:



Finally, the last stop was Southwark Cathedral, just across from the Thames River crossing at the London Bridge. William de Warenne and Lady Anne Ferrers are supposedly buried here.

There was a church service going on, so I didn't have the time to find what I was looking for, but I did find a wooden effigy of a knight, who could very well be my ancestors William de Warenne. 



Like the sign says, this could have been my ancestor, but the de Warenne's were major supporters of Southwark Cathedral, so it could have been any one of their family members resting beneath the wooden knight seen above.


As for Lady Anne Ferrers, I couldn't find anything about her. I don't doubt that she is buried there, I just didn't have the time to ask volunteers about her.

Tomorrow, I will hopefully get  to blog about the two sites I have on my schedule, but with the unreliable Tube system due to the heat we are having over here, and the possibility of the churches and museums being closed due to the heat, we'll see if I can get to see them.



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