The Tower of London is a famous English castle, rich with mythology. The head of Bran the Blessed was buried beneath the Tower and protected England from invasion until it was dug up by King Arthur, who wished to be defended by the kingdom. Later, Queen Gwenevere was reputedly besieged by Mordred here. The ghosts of two princes murdered by the future King Richard III are said to haunt the Tower. However, the reat history of the Tower actually begins in the late 1000s, with King William I the Conqueror.
In 1066, King Edward the Confessor died childless, leaving several contenders for the throne. Although Harold Godwinson, Edward's brother in law, was crowned, Duke William of Normandy claimed that he had been promised the throne. William invaded and defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings. He realized that he had to conquer London but did not attack directly. Instead, he laid waste to the surrounding countryside. The city realized it was defeated and surrendered, and William sent an advance guard in. They started building a fortress, and after William was crowned on Christmas Day at Westminster Abbey the same year Edward had died in, he withdrew to Barking in Essex, while the construction work continued.
One of the strongholds was built in the southeast corner of the Roman city walls. This was soon replaced by the White Tower. The new Bishop Gundulf of Rochester was made the foreman and Norman masons and some Norman stone was used. The labor, however, was provided by the conquered English. By 1100, the White Tower was completed. The Tower had an area of 12,508 sq.ft. (1,170 sq.m.) and 90 ft. (27.5 m.) high at the south side, where the ground was lowest. The Tower was protected by Roman walls on two sides, ditches 25 ft. (8 m.) wide and 11 ft. (3 m.) deep to the north and west, and an earthwork topped by a wooden palisade. Although many rulers stayed at the Tower, it was never intended as the main royal residence. Palaces such as Westminster were more opulent, and it was not the first line of defense against invaders. The primary function of the Tower was as a stronghold.
The tower has been expanded and updated throughout history. Through a series of separate building campaigns, the Tower was the strong fortress it is today by 1350. These campaigns were begun by King Richard I the Lionheart (1189 - 99). Immediately after becoming king, he went on Crusade and left the Tower in the hands of his Chancellor, Bishop William Longchamp of Ely. Longchamp doubled the strength of the fortress. Unfortunately, although Longchamp was able to withstand a long siege in the Tower when "Wicked Prince" John turned on him, the Tower did not have food supplies, a fault which forced Longchamp to surrender. When he returned in 1194, Richard siezed control and forced John to beg for forgiveness.
John became king in 1199, and often stayed at the Tower and kept exotic pets such as lions there. His reign was filled with political unrest, and the nobles invited Prince Louis VIII of France to take over. John died in 1216, right in the middle of the fighting, and his son, Henry III, was quickly crowned, even though he was just nine years old. A few monthes after his cornation, the French were defeated at Lincoln, and the young king turned his attention to securing the kingdom. His regents extended the royal rooms at the Tower, building two more towers at the waterfront, the Wakefield for the king and the Lanthom for the queen. In 1238 he began building a massive curtain wall to the north, east, and west, with nine new towers and surrounded by a moat built by John le Fossur, a Flemish engineer.
His son, King Edward I, who reigned from 1272 to 1307, spent over £21,000 ($29,206.80) on the Tower, turning it into England's largest and strongest concentric castle. He filled in the moat and built a new curtain wall containing his father's, and built an new moat surrounding that wall. He used the Tower to contain official papers and valuables, a service it fulfills with the Crown Jewels today. His son, Edward II, was often forced to take refuge at the Tower, and the surrounding towers were used to house the courtiers and the Wardrobe, which stored valuables and dealt with royal supplies.
The Tower became less important for a long time, although London was once racked with riots and a small group of rioters entered the Tower while King Richard II was pacifying the rest. During the Wars of the Roses, however, it became of key importance. Tournaments were held at the Tower by Henry IV, and Edward IV's coronation celebrations as well as Henry VII's victory celebrations were held there. Unfortunately, many executions took place there: Henry IV himself in 1471 and the sons of Edward IV, Edward V and Richard, were murdered in 1483, supposedly by the next king, Richard III.
Henry VII commission a series of wooden lodgings, mostly for his second wife, Anne Boleyn. These lodgings were rarely used and this was the last use of the Tower as royal lodgings. His break with the Roman Catholic Church caused the Tower's population of political and religious prisoners to grow. The prisoners included Sir Thomas More, Bishop Fisher of Rochester, Anne Boleyn, and Catherine Howard; all four, including the two queens, were executed. His son, Edward VI, continued the executions and his successor, Mary I, Queen of Scots, as well as her cousin, Elizabeth I, used the Tower as a prison.
During the English Civil War, the Tower was once again an important place. The Parliamentarians took the Tower, nad the King never regained it. Shortly after the execution of Charles I, the Crown Jewels were taken and orders were given to "cause the same to be totally broken, and that they melt down all the gold and silver, and sell the jewels to the best advantage of the Commonwealth." Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the Parliamentarians, established the first permanent garrison in the Tower. After the Restoration, the Tower slowly stopped being a prison and became the headquarters of the Office of Ordnance (which controlled military supplies and equipment), with most of the castle becoming munitions stores and offices. A new set of Crown Jewels and a new entrance was made at the east end of the southern curtain wall in 1774.
At the beginning of the 1800s, many of the institutions left the Tower. First to go was the Royal Mint in 1812, followed by the Menagerie in the 1830s. The Office of Ordnance left in 1855 and the Record Office vacated the Tower three years later. In the 1850s, Anthony Salvin, a leading figure in the Gothic Revival, was commissioned to rebuild the Tower to a more "medieval" style. He refaced the exterior of the Beauchamp Tower first, replacing the doors, windows, and battlements. The Salt Tower was restored in 1858 and the Wakefield Tower was restored to house the Crown Jewels. A bridge was built between Wakefield Tower and St. Thomas' Tower, restored as accommodations for the Jewel House Keeper. Several original buildings were destroyed by his successor, John Taylor, and a new curtain wall was built to the south on the site of the medieval palace.
In 1841, the Grand Storehouse was destroyed in a fire. Four years later, a new barracks was built at the site under the management of Duke Arthur Wellesey of Wellington, the Constable of the Tower. The foundation stone bore the name of his greatest victory: Waterloo. At the same time, the moat was converted into a dry ditch, having become smelly and sluggish. Many defences were constructed during the 1840s in fear of Chartist attacks, including a brick and stone bastion eventually destroyed by a World War II bomb.
Several spies were executed at the Tower during World War I, and the last execution took place in 1941, when the spy Josef Jakobs was executed, ironically when Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess was held there. The Crown Jewels were removed due to several bombs in the area, but were returned after the war ended. The moat was used for allotments and vegetable gardens.
