All Topics  
White Tower (Tower of London)

 
White Tower (Tower of London)

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

White Tower (Tower of London)
 
 
  Topics White Tower (Tower of London) Topic Home

The White Tower is a central tower at the Tower of London
Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London , is a historic monument in central London, England, on the north bank of the River Thames....
. The great central keep was started in 1078 by William the Conqueror who ordered the White Tower to be built inside the south-east angle of The City
The City

The City as a linguistic term is a generic name used in various contexts to refer to a particular city. The "City" being referenced may be apparent from context, or it may invariably refer to one particular city in certain English language-speaking regions, depending on the variety of English used....
 walls, adjacent to the River Thames
River Thames

The Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Berkshire and Windsor, Berkshire....
.

This was as much to protect the Normans
Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock....
 from the people of the City of London
City of London

The City of London is a geographically small city status in the United Kingdom within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew....
 as to protect London from outside invaders.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'White Tower (Tower of London)'
Start a new discussion about 'White Tower (Tower of London)'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Tower of London, Traitors Gate
Towrlndn
The White Tower is a central tower at the Tower of London
Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London , is a historic monument in central London, England, on the north bank of the River Thames....
. The great central keep was started in 1078 by William the Conqueror who ordered the White Tower to be built inside the south-east angle of The City
The City

The City as a linguistic term is a generic name used in various contexts to refer to a particular city. The "City" being referenced may be apparent from context, or it may invariably refer to one particular city in certain English language-speaking regions, depending on the variety of English used....
 walls, adjacent to the River Thames
River Thames

The Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Berkshire and Windsor, Berkshire....
.

This was as much to protect the Normans
Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock....
 from the people of the City of London
City of London

The City of London is a geographically small city status in the United Kingdom within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew....
 as to protect London from outside invaders. William ordered the Tower to be built of Caen stone
Caen stone

Caen stone or Pierre de Caen, is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in northwestern France near the city of Caen.It was used in the construction of the late eleventh century austere Norman Romanesque Church of Saint-?tienne, at the Abbaye-aux-Hommes , that was founded by William the Conqueror....
, which he had specially imported from France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, and appointed Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester
Bishop of Rochester

The Bishop of Rochester, Kent is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers the west of the County of Kent....
 as the architect
Architect

An architect is trained and licenced in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e....
. The tower was finished around 1087 by his sons and successors, William Rufus
William II of England

William II , the third son of William I of England, was Kingdom of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers also over Duchy of Normandy, and influence in Kingdom of Scotland....
 and Henry I
Henry I of England

Henry I was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror. He succeeded his elder brother William II of England as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106....
.

In the twelfth century, King Richard the Lionheart
Richard I of England

Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Ireland, Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Nantes and Brittany at various times during the same period....
 enclosed the White Tower with a curtain wall and had a moat
Moat

A moat is deep, broad trench, usually filled with water, that surrounds a structure, installation, or town, normally to provide it with a preliminary line of Defense ....
 dug around it filled with water from the River Thames
River Thames

The Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Berkshire and Windsor, Berkshire....
. The moat was not successful until Henry III
Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John of England as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester....
, in the thirteenth century, employed a Dutch
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
 moat-building technique. Henry refurnished the Chapel and had the exterior of the building whitewashed in 1240, which is how the tower got its name.

The White Tower is a massive construction, 90 feet (27.4m) high and 118 feet (35.9m) by 107 feet (32.6m) across, the walls varying from 15 feet thickness at the base to almost 11 feet in the upper parts. Above the battlements rise four turrets
Turrets

Turrets can mean or be confused with:* Gun turret, in weapons, a gun mount that swivels, usually mounted on a naval warship, or other weapons platforms like planes, tanks, helicopters, etcetera....
; three of them are square, but the one on the north-east is circular. This turret once contained the first Royal observatory
Observatory

An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed....
. The four weather vanes on the turrets of the tower date from 1669. At the southeast corner is a semicircular protrusion which houses the Chapel of St. John.

Its walls are now home to displays from the Royal Armouries
Royal Armouries

The Royal Armouries houses the United Kingdom national collection of arms and armour. It is the oldest museum in the United Kingdom and one of the oldest museums in the world....
, including original armours worn by Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lordship of Ireland and claimant to the Early Modern France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII of England....
 and Charles I
Charles I of England

Charles I was List of English monarchs, List of monarchs of Scotland and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his capital punishment on 30 January 1649....
 plus a reconstructed display of the massive collection of weapons once housed in the Grand Storehouse. The 'Spanish Armoury' contains the Tower's historic instruments of torture, including the infamous block and axe.

Historical incidents


Randulf Flambard
Ranulf Flambard

Ranulf Flambard, also known as Ralph Flambard or Ranulph Flambard and sometimes Ranulf Passiflamme, was a medieval Normans Bishop of Durham and an influential government minister of King William II of England of England....
, Bishop of Durham, the first recorded prisoner at the Tower of London, was imprisoned in the White Tower on the orders of King Henry I
Henry I of England

Henry I was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror. He succeeded his elder brother William II of England as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106....
 in 1100. He escaped in 1101 and fled to Normandy, using a rope smuggled to him in a pot of wine.

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was the illegitimate son of Llywelyn the Great . As far as is known, he was Llywelyn's eldest son....
, illegitimate son of Welsh Prince Llywelyn the Great
Llywelyn the Great

Llywelyn the Great , ), full name Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, was a Prince of Kingdom of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually de facto ruler over most of Wales....
, died while attempting to escape from the Tower in 1244. He is said to have used an improvised rope made from sheets and cloths to lower himself from his window, but as he was a heavy man the rope broke and he fell to his death. His body was discovered by the Yeoman of the Guard the next morning at the foot of the White Tower where he had fallen some ninety feet. The window from which he made his descent is on the south side of the Tower on the top floor. It was bricked up afterward and can still be seen today.

A royal council chamber occupied the middle floor. In this chamber in 1399 Richard II
Richard II of England

Richard II was the eighth King of England of the House of Plantagenet. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III of England....
 was forced to sign away his throne to Henry IV
Henry IV of England

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . Like other kings of England, he also claimed the title of King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence the other name by which he was known, Henry Bolingbroke....
, and in 1483 Richard III
Richard III of England

Richard III was List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England of Kingdom of England from 1483 until his death. He was the last king from the House of York, and his defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field marked the culmination of the Wars of the Roses and the end of the Plantagenet dynasty....
 summarily sentenced Lord Hastings
William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings

William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings became one of the great powers of the England realm during the reign of Edward IV of England, but was executed to prevent him from opposing the usurpation of his one-time companion, Richard III of England....
 to death.

There are suspicions that the Princes in the Tower
Princes in the Tower

The Princes in the Tower, Edward V of England and his brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York , were two sons of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville....
 were truly murdered in the White Tower rather than in the legendary Bloody Tower, but like most of the story, the evidence is unclear. It has never been determined whether the two bodies found under the staircase were actually the two princes.

In 1974, there was a bomb explosion in the mortar room in the White Tower leaving one person dead and 41 injured. No one claimed responsibility for the blast, however the police were investigating suspicions that the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army

The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation descended from the Irish Volunteers, established 25 November 1913 and who in April 1916 staged the Easter Rising....
 was behind it.

Trivia

Robert Graves in his book 'The White Goddess' theorised that the oracular head of 'Bran' an Irish Demi-God was buried at the site of the White Tower. Bran's sacred bird was the raven. If the ravens leave, the kingdom will fall.

External links