Great Tom

Great Tom was the name of one of the four magical woods which surrounded Newcastle in the days when it was the capital city of Northern England and John Uskglass's seat of government. (The others were Petty Egypt, Asmody's Citadel, and Serlo's Blessing. Mr Strange refers to them briefly in his controversial article for the Edinburgh Review - the one which precipitated his break with Mr Norrell [38].) During the Middle Ages the king placed these woods around his city to defend it from attack.