The Tower of London Reconstruction of 1000 Years of History

Standing tall for nearly a thousand years, the Tower of London is a symbol of Britain's tumultuous history. From royal palaces to grim prisons, this fortress has seen it all. This is not just history, this is history brought to life. Welcome to the Tower of London. Our story begins long before 1066 with the Romans who ruled Britain from 43 to 410 AD. By the early 2nd century, London already had a forum, a vast basilica, an amphitheatre, public baths and a massive defensive wall. Little did they know this wall would shape the future of the Tower of London. After the Romans withdrew in 410 AD, Saxon rulers took over. The walled area soon was given over to farming or abandoned. London faded as a major population centre but under King Alfred in the 9th century it was reborn. The foundation of the Tower of London was a direct result of the Norman conquest of 1066. After his victory at Hastings, King William realised that London, at the heart of the country, had to be secured. Construction of an early fortification began as soon as King William entered the city of London. The site was chosen next to an old Saxon church, St Peter's, and within eastern corner of the old Roman wall. Initially, a timber tower with an earth rampart was constructed. A moat was dug and subsequently a wooden palisade was erected to the west and north. But soon the works on the White Tower was to be started. William and his heirs intended their mighty castle not only to dominate the skyline but also the hearts and minds of the defeated Londoners. The White Tower is a keep, often the strongest structure in a medieval castle, containing lodgings suitable for the Lord. Its thick walls housed latrines and fireplaces and at its heart St John's Chapel offered a spiritual refuge for the royal family. The White Tower was probably completed by 1100 at the latest. It has four corner towers. The structure was originally three storeys high, comprising of a basement floor, an entrance level and an upper floor. Limited records indicate that the first expansion of the Tower of London happened during Henry I's reign in the early 12th century. A forebuilding was added to the tower to provide extra defences to the entrance. By the late 12th century, the old Roman fortifications were dismantled and replaced with new inner courtyard walls. A wardrobe tower was constructed for the King's private use, incorporating the old Roman tower. Richard the Lionheart's reign saw a series of large improvements to the Tower of London. The moat was expanded to the west, connecting with the River Thames. Meanwhile, the wooden palisade was replaced by new stone walls, creating what was later to be known as the innermost ward. It was filled with various royal lodgings. One of such was a great hall which existed in the south of the ward. It was similar to, although slightly smaller than, the one at Winchester Castle. Richard's expansion effectively doubled the castle's size when stone walls around the newly created inner ward were finally completed by the end of the 12th century. The Bell Tower dates from around that time and is the second oldest tower surviving to this day. At the beginning of the 13th century, the City of London's population reached 30,000. The old St Paul's Cathedral was nearing completion, being the longest church in the world at the time. The Old London Bridge was a key crossing point of the Thames in London, ferrying people, goods and livestock across the river. The Tower of London, previously extended during Richard the Lionheart's reign, was London's main defence point. King Henry III was eager to ensure that the Tower of London was a formidable fortification, while at the same time a comfortable place to live. The new work began in the 1220s with the construction of three new towers, Wakefield Tower, Lanthorn Tower and Bloody Tower. They probably served as private residencies for the Queen and King respectively. Most of the early works focused on the palatial buildings of the innermost ward, including the renovated Great Hall. In the late 1230s however, the King's attention turned once again to the castle's defences. Coldharbour Gate was erected and the old ditch was filled in to make way for a new expansion. Beginning around 1238, the castle was expanded to the east, north and northwest. The tradition of whitewashing the White Tower, from which it derives its name, began in 1240, a popular fashion at the time. Henry's building programme wasn't popular amongst the locals, so they promptly rejoiced later that same year when the old gatehouse collapsed. It did not hinder the castle expansion however, which included a new defensive perimeter studded with towers. The work continued throughout the reign of Henry III and into Edward I's, although it was occasionally interrupted by Finally, a wide moat was dug around the new inner ward walls. Throughout the history, the tower has been adapted and developed to defend and control the nation. High-profile prisoners including queens and conspirators saw their final days within its walls. Although he was rarely in London, Edward commissioned an expensive remodelling of the tower. Costing £21,000 between 1275 and 1285, over double that spent on the castle during the whole of Henry's reign. He extended a south side wall onto the land that had previously been submerged by the River Thames. In this wall, he built St Thomas's Tower, later known as Traitor's Gate. A new entrance to the tower was built. The new gates, named Bywood Tower and Middle Tower, a bridge and a Barbican were also added. By the end of Edward's reign, he had not only completed Henry's works but also brought the last major permanent transformation to the castle layout. He created a new outer ward and second curtain wall surrounding the castle. The tower became the safest place in all of England at the time. Four additional towers were added, Legs Mount, Breast Mount, Deviling Tower and Well Tower. Even to this day, most of Henry and Edward's structures are still standing and the tower had remained with a similar footprint thereafter. A royal menagerie was placed in the Lion Tower by the entrance, housing a variety of exotic animals gifted to the king, rumoured to include lions, elephants and even polar bears. The old Norman Chapel was renovated as part of Edward's work too. In addition to being a defensive structure, the tower was the most important royal prison in the country. Another institution that saw a permanent establishment within the tower was the Royal Mint, housed in the new outer ward until the 19th century. Edward III ordered renovations to the castle and in 1375, a wharf in front of the tower allowed ships to dock next to the fortress. The second water gate, known Cradle Tower, was constructed to the east of St Thomas's Tower, used exclusively by the king. By the end of the 14th century, the area within the walls was filled with various buildings, including forges, warehouses and armouries. Some viewed it as a separate city supporting the king's magnificence. Much of the latter half of the 15th century was occupied by the Wars of the Roses between the claimants to the throne, the houses of Lancaster and York. During the wars, the tower was damaged by artillery. In response, the tower was then fortified to withstand gunfire and loopholes were carved out for cannons and handguns. Additionally, near the entrance, an enclosure called the Bulwark was created for this same purpose. After 200 years of painstaking reconstruction, the tower was rendered obsolete with the invention and popularisation of gunpowder, remaining mostly unchanged and standing as a monument to Edward and Henry's reigns. Beginning from the Tudor period, the Tower of London was in fact relatively little used as a residence by the sovereign. Nevertheless, some attempts to improve the palace buildings were made. Henry VII added a new gallery and a new garden between 1501 and 1506. These works created a second court to the east, with a new gallery intersecting the gardens in the fashionable continental style. The Royal Chapel was destroyed by fire in 1512 and rebuilt shortly after. It is best known as the burial place of some of the most famous prisoners of the tower, including three queens, namely Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey. In 1530, the White Tower's corner turrets received their iconic onion-shaped domed roofs. In the southwestern corner of the inner ward, the Queen's House was built by King Henry VIII, probably for Queen Anne Boleyn, but she lived there only as a prisoner for 18 days awaiting her execution. During the reign of King James I, it was converted into a mint. Later, it became a storage space for the crown jewels and the role it still serves today. Historic plans of the Tower of London also show a building at the site next to the Queen's House. It was used at the time as a guardhouse and a private place for executions of highborn prisoners. By 1540s, medieval storages were in perilous state and therefore a dedicated storehouse was ordered to be constructed. The Ordnance Storehouse, built in 1545, was one of the largest structures within the castle, spanning across the full width of the inner ward and north of the White Tower. After King Henry VIII's death, up until the 19th century, English monarchs stayed at the Tower in no more than a few days. The Office of Ordnance and the Office of Armoury, which oversaw the Tower's function as an arsenal and a stronghold, became the most influential occupants of the castle. By the middle of the 17th century, most of the royal lodgings were abandoned. In 1639, the medieval Great Hall was converted into storage for guns, carriages and other equipment. Other buildings were also adapted as the need for storing gunpowder was ever-growing. Concerns were raised over safety of storing such a great amount of explosive materials, but no action was taken. In 1664, an iconic New Armouries building was constructed in the empty space previously used as a garden. The New Armouries is the oldest surviving Office of Ordnance storehouse in the country and represents a unique architectural style of the late 1600s. It has survived to this day, currently housing the Castle Cafe. In 1666, a devastating fire swept through London, destroying 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, the Royal Exchange, Guildhall and St Paul's Cathedral. In the event, the Tower was undamaged, but had the flames reached the White Tower and its vast stacks of gunpowder, the resulting explosion would have rendered demolition beyond all expression for several miles. To isolate the castle from future danger, a safety corridor was created around the White Tower. As a result, between 1670 and 1676, most buildings of the innermost ward were demolished, including the medieval Cold Harbour Gate and the Old Four Building. The medieval Bulwark was dismantled in 1670. The Lion Tower was also refurbished so that visitors could see more of the animals prowling around their circular yard. In 1684, a retaining wall was built to prevent silting of the castle's moat. The tower's military capability was a major cause for concerns, and in a final attempt to improve it, the towers were razed and some 140 cannons mounted on them. A futile attempt at bolstering the tower's defence, as the castle walls were too weak to stand against artillery fire and would not last for 24 hours for a modern day army prepared for a siege. In 1688, when the Master General of Ordnance was advised of the crazy condition of the 16th century storehouse, it was decided to replace it with a single new structure. Completed in 1692, the new building was of considerable architectural pretension. The 18th century was a period of rapid growth for the City of London. The population exploded with early signs of the Industrial Revolution. London's growth was at the centre of the evolving British Empire. In a contrast to the massive expansion of the City of London, the early years of the 18th century at the tower were relatively quiet. Smaller scale renovations took place, such as enlarging medieval openings and installing modern windows and doorways with ornamental arches. The artillery platforms from the previous century were also dismantled. The tower yet again lost its prominence as the greatest arsenal in the country. Other places were better positioned to supply the operations of the expanding overseas empire. However, the tower was still headquartered in the Board of Ordnance, therefore the need for office accommodation grew quickly. The most prominent lodgings from this era was a pair of houses in the north-eastern corner of the inner ward and the so-called old hospital block built between 1701 and 1719. The only other surviving ordnance lodging is the house built in 1735 overlooking Tower Green, now the official residence of the Tower Doctor. The largest operation undertaken in the 18th century was construction of the ordnance offices in the Palace Ward. The clearance included dismantling dilapidated Lanthorn Tower and other medieval structures. The new office was built in neoclassical style, expanded multiple times over the coming years. Additionally, a new gateway was created to the east end giving access to the wharf. The 19th century marked an increased interest in England's medieval past. One of the effects was the emergence of the Gothic Revival style. In the tower's architecture, this was manifested when the New Horse Armoury was built against the south face of the White Tower in 1825. By 1834, the Royal Menagerie had been relocated to the newly created London Zoo and the Lions Tower was demolished soon after. In 1841, the inhabitants had suffered a number of deaths and hospitalizations due to poor water supply. The decision had been made to convert the moat into a dry ditch in the attempt to improve the sanitary conditions. By 1845, most of the drainage and infilling work had been complete. After the Grand Storehouse burnt down in 1841, work had begun on the building of a vast new barracks for a thousand men. Named the Waterloo Barracks after the Duke of Wellington's greatest victory, this new building espouses a castellated Gothic style. Today, it is a home to the Jewel House. In addition to the Waterloo Barracks, the Royal Engineers provided separate officers' quarters, now the Royal Fusilier Museum, to the north east, very much in the same style. A new main guard was created out of the storehouse erected in the 17th century to the north of the Whitefield Tower. The year 1846 also saw demolition of various private houses and storage spaces. In 1851, a dedicated ticket office was created by the entrance. The tower has been a visitor attraction since the 18th century, but numbers of tourists increased dramatically in the 1800s. Visitors were fascinated by the stories of England's turbulent and sometimes gruesome history. The increasing obsession for a neo-Gothic architectural style led to the tower's greatest transformation since the 13th century. Most of the modern additions that concealed the medieval fabric were demolished and large parts of the castle, given the new medieval look, for better or for worse, and the appearance they retain today. The authorities saw that the ramparts were cleared and modified for modern weapons. Some portions of the walls were restored to the medieval look while others were not, probably due to the availability of funding over the years. Subsequently, construction of shell-proof casemates began against the outer ward walls, and in 1856, a new northern bastion was built midway between legs mount and brass mount to fill the gap in tower defences. The end of the 19th century saw more clearance of buildings underway. Between 1879 and 1885, the horse armoury, the eastern annex and the ordinance office were demolished. The front of the tower was exposed and a new entrance created. Lanthorn Tower was reconstructed as well. By 1900s, the Tower of London had reached its final appearance and remained mostly unchanged to this day. The year 1894 marks the completion of the Tower Bridge. It is a distinct landmark that complements and provides iconic background to the Tower of London. In the 20th and 21st centuries, tourism had been the towers primary role, with the remaining routine military activities. A detachment of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers still mounts a guard at and with the Yeoman Warders takes part in the Ceremony of Quays each day. On several occasions through the year, gun salutes are fired from the tower. Although only one bomb fell on the Tower of London in the First World War, it landed harmlessly in the moat. The Second World War left a greater mark. On the 23rd September 1940, during the Blitz, high explosive bombs damaged the castle, destroying several buildings and narrowly missing the White Tower. Northern Bastion and the Guardhouse were never rebuilt. After the war, the Tower of London was reopened to the public. Since 1990, the Tower of London has been cared for by an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, which receives no funding from the Government or the Crown. In 1988, the Tower of London was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, in recognition of its global importance and to help conserve and protect the site. However, recent developments, such as the construction of skyscrapers nearby, have pushed the Tower towards being added to the United Nations Heritage In Danger list. Thank you for watching the animated history of the Tower of London. Please like and subscribe and if you like the work I am doing and would like to support me further, feel free to buy me a cup of coffee by clicking the link below.