Getting There: Tower Bridge, near Tower Hill underground station.
From London Bridge cross the bridge over the River Thames and turn right on to
Lower Thames Street. After a 15-minute walk the Tower is located on your
right.
Map
Telephone: 020 7332 3053
Website
Opening Times: Tuesday to Saturday 9am to 6pm, Sunday to Monday 10am to
6pm
History - The Tower of London is
London's top visitor attraction and is classified as a
Grade 1 listed
building, it is officially Her Majesty's Palace and Fortress and no visit to
the capital is complete without a visit to this historic place. In its 1000
year history it has been a palace a prison, an armoury, a treasure house, a
mint and a place of torture and execution, within its walls the history of
the United Kingdom has unfolded with each subsequent ruler leaving a lasting
impression for future generations, in ancient times, anyone arriving by river
via the Traitors gate knew that the were unlikely to see the outside world
again.
The Tower of London was
originally designed as a fortress by William the Conquer and was built at the
beginning of the 11th centaury, a symbol of power and strength, designed to
strike fear in to the hearts of Williams' enemies in his newly conquered lands
and to help protect him from the local population. The original tower of the
complex is known as the White Tower ( originally the great tower) and this was
completed in 1080 and was an addition to the simple timber structure that
already existed at the site. William was keen to develop in this area as it had
been used as a strategic fortress for over a thousand years, in fact remnants of
the old roman walls started by the Emporer Claudius can still be found in
existence today.
William wanted to construct a building that would easily be identifiable as a
landmark and thus he ordered that stone for the construction work to be brought
from Caen in his native France. Boats laden with stone would cross the channel,
make the trip up the Thames and moor in the pool of London waiting for the
master craftsman to request they be brought ashore. The whole project was
overseen by Gundulf, the Bishop of Rochester whose
building techniques were
admired by William and whom he personally chose for the task
The name of the White tower is
derived from the white stone used in its construction. As mentioned above, Caen
stone or Pierre de Caen, is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone, beloved by
the Normans and in fact used in other important London buildings such as
Buckingham Palace. It is well known within the construction industry for its
usage in ecclesiastical buildings such as churches and cathedrals. The White
Tower is approx 27 meters high and 4.5 meters wide. It took almost 20 years for
Williams fortress to be completed and when finished the structure rose almost
100 feet in to the air and in places the walls were almost 15 feet thick. It
must have been a formidable sight, with its wide ditch, and stone walls. Inside
a mini town consisted of living quarters, guardrooms, chapels, crypts and of
course an impregnable prison.
Restoration, Repair and Preservation - over
the centuries, the Tower of London has become interwoven in to the very fabric
of Great Britain. parts have been added, modified and improved.
William introduced a new design in to his castle; the structure of the building
was built in stone so as the Norman invaders could prove to their newly
conquered land, their strength both on a political and military basis. As
time passed, the building grew in stature mainly as a result of the need to
improve the infrastructure as a result of heightened threats of attack from
invaders. The traditional design of castles as this time was to build a motte
surrounded by a bailey. For readers not familiar with castle terminology, a
motte (not to be confused with a moat which is quite different part of a
castle), is a large conical mound with a flat top. These structures where often
naturally occurring structures such as, hillocks or hilltops. A motte could be
made larger by digging around its sides and placing the excavated soil at its
top. The motte was usually crowned with a wooden structure or building which was
used for various purposes. This structure was then surrounded by an area known
as a bailey which was a larger open space usually elevated but not to the same
height as the motte. The bailey was protected by a ditch.
Williams ‘brick built tower on top of a motte, took castle construction to a new
level. The English had never seen castles built out of stone before and
certainly the
construction work would have installed a sense
within the local population that these new rulers meant business. This new stone
structure was an unprecedented size and records show that the bailey that
surrounded the tower measured some 1.75 acres, his builders having to modify the
designs to incorporate the previous roman structure.
In is difficult to image in today’s modern age of sky scrappers and
high
rise tower blocks what an imposing site a tower built of stone some
twenty seven meters tall would be. Imagine the scene at the time, an area devoid
of other impressive structures and mainly consisting of low rise wooden
buildings. The tower would have dominated the landscape and would have made a
wonderful landmark for anyone arriving by boat.
Following the successful building of the White Tower, the Normans instigated the
building of these new modern structures at Warwick, Nottingham. York, Lincoln
Cambridge and Huntingdon.
William died before he could see his structure completed but he had set in
motion a building plan that would see the Tower of London be added to and
altered over the course of the next 1000 years.
In the 12th century, King Richard the Lion heart enclosed the white tower with a
curtain wall which afforded the structure more protection. He also added a moat
and filled it with water from the near by Thames. It is interesting to note that
the word moat originates from the French word 'motte' meaning mound or hill. The
French word was translated into the Middle English word 'moat'
The structure of early moats was unsuccessful and it wasn’t until Henry 3rd in
the 13th century constructed a new moat using a technique invented by the Dutch.
Henry greatly improved the curtain wall, adding to its thickness and strength
and constructed many buildings within the confines of the bailey, thus turning a
former fortress in to a palatial residence. Whilst Henry can be credited with
much of the “royal palace building work” Fortifications at the Tower of London
were not finished until 1285 and were undertaken by Edward 1st. Edward built the
outer curtain wall enclosing the inner wall thus creating a double concentric
defence system. The old moat was filled in and he built a larger new moat around
the outside of the new wall.
The Tower of London enjoyed the prestige of being a royal residence until the
time of Oliver Cromwell who decided to tear down the royal buildings as they
were deemed unnecessary.
One of the buildings to survive this period is The Queen's House it was built
around 1530, in a different "Tudor" style and was trimmed with wood; it is also
one of the few such constructed buildings to survive the Great Fire of London of
1666 a fact it owes to its location with the stone walls of the tower. Although
we cannot be sure, it is likely that the building was constructed by Henry the
8th for Anne Boleyn, who alas did not live to long to enjoy much usage of the
building.
Intermittent building work was carried out at the tower after the restoration of
the monarchy much of it was designed to improve or strengthen the exiting
structure. There are two major periods of restoration work at the tower which
bring us up to the modern age where the the whole of the tower complex has been
afforded
listed building status thus insuring that it
remains as part of our heritage for many years to come and thus preserved for
future generations.
In the first period of restoration, St Christopher Wren took charge of the
remodelling of the White Tower. He altered all of the windows and the original
staircase leading up to the main entrance. Wren was also responsible for work
carried out to the Horse Armoury.
The second period of renovation which was carried out by the Victorian architect
Anthony Salvin in 1851 was designed to restore parts of the Beauchamp tower to
have a more medieval appearance. The Victorians were the generation that first
muted the idea of opening up the tower as a tourist attraction. Although Salvin
was a much accredited architect, his successor John Taylor who took over in 1870
was responsible for work of an inferior quality. With hind sight the works were
a complete disaster, what had been a wonderful collection of medieval buildings
had been turned in to a side show which would not have been out of place on a
Disney set.
Thankfully the Tower of London is now treated with the respect it deserves and
much of this appalling work has been reversed. As a Grade 1 listed building is
afforded protection as arguably the most important building in the British
Isles. However, the Tower does face modern day challenges. As well as the toll
on the infrastructure of the thousands of daily tourists who flock to this
location, Unesco is on the verge of placing the tower on the danger list. This
wonderful castle complex that once stood proud and alone next to the Thames is
fast becoming overshadowed by vast glass office blocks that offer little
sympathy to this location. The worry is that future visitors to the tower will
not be able to view the structure within historical context as the surrounding
locations are fast becoming eroded by modern developments as the city expands in
all directions. A stand needs to be taken to prevent any alterations being
carried out at the Tower and hopefully it will still be standing proud if
somewhat overshadowed in a thousand years time.
Main Construction Periods - The main
construction periods at the tower can be listed as follows,
William I & II ( 1066-1100)
Richard I and John (1189-1216)
Henry III (1216-72)
Edward I (1273-1307)
Edward III & Richard II (c. 1350-99)
Henry VIII 1509-47
Other easily identified structures contained within the Tower of London are as
follows.
Bowyer Tower - The Bowyer Tower is just one of the 21 towers which,
together, form the Tower of London castle complex. It was built by King Henry
111 who employed the services of Henry de Reyns and John of Gloucester as chief
architects. The bowyer tower was designed and built for the bowmen that lived in
the Structure although over the centuries, its usage has changed often.
The Martin Tower - The Martin tower was constructed by Henry the Third
and has its place in the history of the tower. It was used as prison and a place
of torture; in fact if you visit this part of the complex today, you can still
see some of the torture equipment on display. A very Spartan an inhospitable
place it was somewhat improved after the restoration when it was occupied by a
family whose sole responsibility was keepers of the jewels. At the time the
tower was known as the jewel tower and it was from here that the notorious
Captain Blood ingratiated himself with the keeper’s family and tried to steal
the crown jewels.
Brass Mount - Situated to the north east corner of the tower of London,
this part of the structure was designed with the defence of the whole structure
in mind. It was used as a store house for equipment nas contained soldiers that
would watch out for attacks from the North East.
Constable tower - The Constable Tower was built was between 1238 – 1272
again by Henry 111, it was mainly used as accommodation by jailers and as a
prison. Its name is derived from the title” Constable of the tower”, it is
believed that the Constable of the Tower of London originally lived in this
building. This role founded in the time of William was an important and powerful
one which is reflected in the original title which was 'keeper of the Tower of
London'. His duties initially demanded that he resided in the Tower in order to
receive and look after prisoners
Broad Arrow Tower - The Broad Arrow Tower was part of Henry II's
extension to the Tower of London. It was designed with a military purpose in
mind and was used to house the towers garrison, inscriptions which are still
visible on the walls inside this tower also show that the Broad Arrow Tower was
also used as a prison cell. Although the original name of the Broad Arrow Tower
is unknown is is thought it gained its title from its intended military usage.
Salt Tower - The Salt Tower was built by Henry III and is located in the
south eastern part of the complex. Designed by Henry the Third, it has had many
usages over the centuries. Most famously and in keeping which most of the other
parts of the tower, it was used as a prison. Its most important prisoner was
Hugh Draper who was imprisoned in the Salt Tower in 1561, while he was
imprisoned in the Salt Tower he carved a huge sphere. If you visit this tower
today, you can still able to view the sphere that was carved by Hugh Draper.
The Well Tower - The well tower was built by King Edward 1st and he
employed the services of Master James of St George as chief builder and
architect. You can best describe the well tower as an example of
Edwardian/Gothic Architecture. This structure had a number of purposes.
Originally designed to protected the river frontage of the tower, it served as a
good vantage point and undoubtedly would have been used a base for soldiers. It
also contained two wells that were used to draw water to the surface. Naturally
of course it was also used as a prison and there are harrowing stories of
prisoners being chained to its walls and being allowed to drown
Cradle Tower - The cradle tower was built in the Gothic style of the
orders of King Edward the Third, he employed the services of Henry Yeverley who
was master mason of the kings work throughout England. In his design he
incorporated two portcullises which were very popular. The tower was designed to
give easy access from the water frontage to the king’s apartments.
UK's Top 20 Historic Listed Buildings:
The Tower of London