Rare treasures unearthed at Tower of London moat shed new light on capital’s ‘formidable fortress’

A First World War training round and a 15th century French jetton are among treasures to have been discovered by excavators at the Tower of London.

Also found were a late medieval or Tudor buckle, likely to have come from a dagger belt, as well as a 17th-century half penny trade token, which could have been made at the tower's Royal Mint.

The discoveries have shed light on the complex and varied history of the 14,000 square metre moat, which has previously been used as a medieval orchard, a grazing ground for Victorian livestock and allotments during the Second World War.

A 13th-century moat at the historic site is being transformed into a wildflower meadow for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

This spring, 20 million seeds will be planted in the moat as part of the Superbloom project to celebrate the 70-year reign of Her Majesty.

The aim is to create a colourful and vibrant field of flowers so bees and birds will flock back to the capital.

The moat will include cornflowers, sunflowers, gyposphila, poppies and pink cosmos, with other garden plants added to the native wildflowers to allow for taller planting schemes and colourful displays throughout the summer.

Alfred Hawkins, buildings curator at Historic Royal Palaces, the charity which cares for the Tower of London, said: "The moat has a very long and complicated history of over 700 years.

"It's a defensive structure, and then it is drained and used as a training ground or for parades. The scale of things that we're finding is reflective of that complicated story."

The discovery of the First World War training round tallies with the Tower of London being a focal point of combat from 1914 to 1918.

Soldiers were garrisoned there awaiting deployment at the start of the war and trained to use guns, while weapons were kept in storehouses within the tower.

The tower was also used to contain people who posed a serious threat to national security, with 11 spies executed there.

The French jetton, inscribed with the fleur-de-lis, is thought to have been made in Paris.

While it is not uncommon to find English jettons, French ones are particularly rare. The find demonstrates how the Tower of London was a focal point of international travel.

During the Tudor age, the tower was the most important state prison in the country and gained a reputation for being inescapable. The buckle found by excavators may have belonged to one of the guards.

In 1977, at the Silver Jubilee, the moat was used for a garden display. In 2014, to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War, it was filled with 800,000 ceramic poppies in a moving commemoration.

Visitors will be welcomed to the moat between June and September this year to see the Superbloom.

Historic Royal Palaces plans to host smaller floral Jubilee displays across its other sites, including at Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace and Hillsborough Castle.

Tom O’Leary, public engagement director at Historic Royal Palaces, said: "We hope that this thriving new landscape, surrounding London’s formidable fortress, will celebrate the power of nature to unite us all."