White Tower

Description

Open Edition Reproduction  

The Keep of the Tower of London, built by William of Normandy after his 1066 victory at Hastings on the site of a previous Roman legionary fortress. Used as a base for his subjugation of England. The cornerstone facings are Caen limestone imported from William’s holdings in France.

The Tower has been the scene of imprisonment, despair, executions, and murder of the great and lowly. Queens and Nobles have lost their heads on Tower Green, many arriving via the Thames through the water portal – the Traitors’ Gate. The sons of Edward IV, victor of the Wars of the Roses, were incarcerated and vanished within, evidently murdered by their uncle, Richard III.

The site is an Edward 1 concentric design, the inner bailey being surrounded by a dry moat. The Beauchamp gatehouse was built by the Earl of Warwick, the victor at PoitIers who captured the French King, released only after payment of a colossal ransom. The Tower holds the crown jewels guarded by the Yeoman Warders, the famous “Beefeaters” and is a World Heritage Site.