TOWER OF LONDON - LONDON, ENGLAND

TOWER OF LONDON

LONDON, ENGLAND 

In the 1070's, William the Conqueror began to build a massive stone tower at the centre of his London fortress.  Nothing like it had ever been seen in England before.  The ruthless William intended the mighty "White Tower" not only to dominate the skyline, but also the hearts and minds of the subjugated Londoners.  He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams; nearly a thousand years later the Tower of London still holds us in thrall.  The mighty fortress is the home to England's Crown Jewels.  And yes they are the real thing.  You just cannot photograph them.  The Crown Jewels look the part.  They are gloriously ornate, intricately made and have inspired acts of greed, violence and even spawned stories of evil curses.  The also stand as a potent symbol of Britain's enduring monarchy.  Most of the gold and silver jewel-encrusted pieces are objects used at the coronation ceremonies.

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames incentral London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison since at least 1100, although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.  The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history. It was besieged several times and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public records office, and the home of theCrown Jewels of the United Kingdom. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II, a procession would be led from the Tower to Westminster Abbey on the coronation of a monarch. In the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period. In the late 15th century the castle was the prison of the Princes in the Tower. Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle its defences lagged behind developments to deal with artillery.

The peak period of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures who had fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, were held within its walls. This use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower". Despite its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death, popularised by 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century writers, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the World Wars of the 20th century. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle, with 112 occurring there over a 400-year period. In the latter half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out of the castle to other locations, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony Salvinand John Taylor took the opportunity to restore the Tower to what was felt to be its medieval appearance, clearing out many of the vacant post-medieval structures. In the First and Second World Wars, the Tower was again used as a prison, and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired and the castle reopened to the public. Today the Tower of London is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. It is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site.

White Tower

Main article: White Tower (Tower of London)

The original entrance to the White Tower was at first-floor level.

The White Tower is a keep (also known as a donjon), which was often the strongest structure in a medieval castle, and contained lodgings suitable for the lord – in this case the king or his representative.^[7] According to military historian Allen Brown, "The great tower [White Tower] was also, by virtue of its strength, majesty and lordly accommodation, the donjon par excellence".^[8] As one of the largest keeps in theChristian world,^[9] the White Tower has been described as "the most complete eleventh-century palace in Europe".^[10]

The White Tower, not including its projecting corner towers, measures 36 by 32 metres (118 by 105 ft) at the base, and rises to a height of 27 m (90 ft) at the southern battlements. The structure was originally three-storeys high, comprising a basement floor, an entrance level, and an upper floor. The entrance, as is usual in Norman keeps, was above ground, in this case on the south face, and accessed via a wooden staircase which could be removed in the event of an attack. It was probably during Henry II's reign (1154–1189) that a forebuilding was added to the south side of the tower to provide extra defences to the entrance, but it has not survived. Each floor was divided into three chambers, the largest in the west, a smaller room in the north-east, and the chapel taking up the entrance and upper floors of the south-east.^[11] At the western corners of the building are square towers, while to the north-east a round tower houses a spiral staircase. At the south-east corner is a larger semi-circular projection which accommodates theapse of the chapel. As the building was intended to be a comfortable residence as well as a stronghold, latrines were built into the walls, and four fireplaces provided warmth.^[10]

The main building material is Kentish rag-stone, although some local mudstone was also used. Caen stone was imported from northern France to provide details in the Tower's facing, although little of the original material survives as it was replaced with Portland stone in the 17th and 18th centuries. As most of the Tower's windows were enlarged in the 18th century, only two original – albeit restored – examples remain, in the south wall at gallery level.^[12]

The tower was terraced into the side of a mound, so the northern side of the basement is partially below ground level.^[13] As was typical of most keeps,^[14] the bottom floor was anundercroft used for storage. One of the rooms contained a well. Although the layout has remained the same since the tower's construction, the interior of the basement dates mostly from the 18th century when the floor was lowered and the pre-existing timber vaults were replaced with brick counterparts.^[13] The basement is lit through small slits.^[10]

St John's Chapel, inside the White Tower

The entrance floor was probably intended for the use of the Constable of the Tower and other important officials. The south entrance was blocked during the 17th century, and not reopened until 1973. Those heading to the upper floor had to pass through a smaller chamber to the east, also connected to the entrance floor. The crypt ofSt John's Chapel occupied the south-east corner and was accessible only from the eastern chamber. There is a recess in the north wall of the crypt; according to Geoffrey Parnell, Keeper of the Tower History at the Royal Armouries, "the windowless form and restricted access, suggest that it was designed as a strong-room for safekeeping of royal treasures and important documents".^[13]

The upper floor contained a grand hall in the west and residential chamber in the east – both originally open to the roof and surrounded by a gallery built into the wall – and St John's Chapel in the south-east. The top floor was added in the 15th century, along with the present roof.^[11][15] St John's Chapel was not part of the White Tower's original design, as the apsidal projection was built after the basement walls.^[13] Due to changes in function and design since the tower's construction, except for the chapel little is left of the original interior.^[16] The chapel's current bare and unadorned appearance is reminiscent of how it would have been in the Norman period. In the 13th century, during Henry III's reign, the chapel was decorated with such ornamentation as a gold-painted cross, and stained glass windows that depicted the Virgin Mary and Holy Trinity.^[17]

[edit]Innermost ward

The innermost ward encloses an area immediately south of the White Tower, stretching to what was once the edge of the River Thames. As was the case at other castles, such as the 11th-century Hen Domen, the innermost ward was probably filled with timber buildings from the Tower's foundation. Exactly when the royal lodgings began to encroach from the White Tower into the innermost ward is uncertain, although it had happened by the 1170s.^[12] The lodgings were renovated and elaborated during the 1220s and 1230s, becoming comparable with other palatial residences such as Windsor Castle.^[18] Construction of Wakefield and Lanthorn Towers – located at the corners of the innermost ward's wall along the river – began around 1220.^{[19][nb 1]} They probably served as private residences for the queen and king respectively. The earliest evidence for how the royal chambers were decorated comes from Henry III's reign: the queen's chamber was whitewashed, and painted with flowers and imitation stonework. A great hall existed in the south of the ward, between the two towers.^[20] It was similar to, although slightly smaller than, that also built by Henry III at Winchester Castle.^[21] Near Wakefield Tower was a postern gate which allowed private access to the king's apartments. The innermost ward was originally surrounded by a protective ditch, which had been filled in by the 1220s. Around this time, a kitchen was built in the ward.^[22] Between 1666 and 1676, the innermost ward was transformed and the palace buildings removed.^[23] The area around the White Tower was cleared so that anyone approaching would have to cross open ground. The Jewel House was demolished, and the Crown Jewels moved to Martin Tower.^[24]

Interior of the innermost ward. To the right is the 11th-century White Tower; the structure at the end of the walkway to the left is Wakefield Tower. Beyond that can be seen Traitors' Gate.

[edit]Inner ward

See also: St. Peter ad Vincula (London)

The south face of the Waterloo Barracks

The inner ward was created during Richard the Lionheart's reign, when a moat was dug to the west of the innermost ward, effectively doubling the castle's size.^[25][26] Henry III created the ward's east and north walls, and the ward's dimensions remain to this day.^[4] Most of Henry's work survives, and only two of the nine towers he constructed have been completely rebuilt.^[27] Between the Wakefield and Lanthorn Towers, the innermost ward's wall also serves as acurtain wall for the inner ward.^[28] The main entrance to the inner ward would have been through a gatehouse, most likely in the west wall on the site of what is now Beauchamp Tower. The inner ward's western curtain wall was rebuilt by Edward I.^[29] The 13th-century Beauchamp Tower marks the first large scale use of brick as a building material in Britain, since the 5th-century departure of the Romans.^[30] The Beauchamp Tower is one of 13 towers that stud the curtain wall. Anti-clockwise from the south-west corner they are: Bell, Beauchamp, Devereux, Flint, Bowyer, Brick, Martin, Constable, Broad Arrow, Salt, Lanthorn, Wakefield, and the Bloody Tower.^[28] While these towers provided positions from which flanking fire could be deployed against a potential enemy, they also contained accommodation. As its name suggests, Bell Tower housed a belfry, its purpose to raise the alarm in the event of an attack. The royal bow-maker, responsible for making longbows, crossbows, catapults, and other siege and hand weapons, had a workshop in the Bowyer Tower. A turret at the top of Lanthorn Tower was used as a beacon by traffic approaching the Tower at night.^[31]

As a result of Henry's expansion, St Peter ad Vincula, a Norman chapel which had previously stood outside the Tower, was incorporated into the castle. Henry decorated the chapel by adding glazed windows, and stalls for himself and his queen.^[27] It was rebuilt by Edward I at a cost of over £300^[32] and again by Henry VIII in 1519; the current building dates from this period, although the chapel was refurbished in the 19th century.^[33] Immediately west of Wakefield Tower, the Bloody Tower was built at the same time as the inner ward's curtain wall, and as a water-gate provided access to the castle from the River Thames. It was a simple structure, protected by a portcullis and gate.^[34] The Bloody Tower acquired its name in the 16th century, as it was believed to be the site of the murder of the Princes in the Tower.^[35] Between 1339 and 1341, a gatehouse was built into the curtain wall between Bell and Salt Towers.^[36] During the Tudor period, a range of buildings for the storage of munitions was built along the inside of the north inner ward.^[37] The castle buildings were remodelled during the Stuart period, mostly under the auspices of the Office of Ordnance. In 1663 just over £4,000 was spent building a new storehouse (now known as the New Armouries) in the inner ward.^[38] Construction of the Grand Storehouse north of the White Tower began in 1688, on the same site as the dilapidated Tudor range of storehouses;^[39] it was destroyed by fire in 1841. The Waterloo Barracks were built on the site, and remain to this day,^[40] housing the Crown Jewels.^[41]

[edit]Outer ward

A third ward was created during Edward I's extension to the Tower, as the narrow enclosure completely surrounded the castle. At the same time a bastion known as Legge's Mount was built at the castle's north-west corner. Brass Mount, the bastion in the north-east corner, was a later addition. The three rectangular towers along the east wall 15 metres (49 ft) apart were dismantled in 1843. Although the bastions have often been ascribed to the Tudor period, there is no evidence to support this; archaeological investigations suggest that Legge's Mount is Edwardian.^[42] Blocked battlements (also known as crenellations) in the south side of Legge's Mount are the only surviving medieval battlements at the Tower of London (the rest are Victorian replacements).^[43] A new 50-metre (160 ft) moat was dug beyond the castle's new limits;^[44] it was originally 4.5 metres (15 ft) deeper in the middle than it is today.^[42] With the addition of a new curtain wall, the old main entrance to the Tower of London was obscured and made redundant; a new entrance was created in the south-west corner of the external wall circuit. The complex consisted of an inner and an outer gatehouse and a barbican,^[45] which became known as the Lion Tower as it was associated with the animals as part of the Royal Menagerie since at least the 1330s.^[46] The Lion Tower itself no longer survives.^[45] Edward extended the south side of the Tower of London onto land that had previously been submerged by the River Thames. In this wall, he built St Thomas' Tower between 1275 and 1279; later known as Traitors' Gate, it replaced the Bloody Tower as the castle's water-gate. The building is unique in England, and the closest parallel is the now demolished water-gate at the Louvre in Paris. The dock was covered with arrowslits in case of an attack on the castle from the River; there was also a portcullis at the entrance to control who entered. There were luxurious lodgings on the first floor.^[47] Edward also moved the Royal Mint into the Tower; its exact location early on is unknown, although it was probably in either the outer ward or the Lion Tower.^[48] By 1560, the Mint was located in a building in the outer ward near Salt Tower.^[49] Between 1348 and 1355, a second water-gate, Cradle Tower, was added east of St Thomas' Tower for the king's private use.^[36]

The Tower of London's outer curtain wall, with the curtain wall of the inner ward just visible behind. In the centre is Legge's Mount.