On Saturday I went on a day trip to London where I spent most of the day in the Tower of London. The picture I showed in my previous post showed the curtain walls that surround the more usual view of the White Tower. If you look closely at the previous picture you can see one of the turrets that top the White Tower.
The White Tower is a central tower at the Tower of London. 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 walls, adjacent to the River Thames. [1] This was as much to protect the Normans from the people of the City of London as to protect London from outside invaders. William ordered the Tower to be built of Caen stone, which he had specially imported from France, and appointed Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester as the architect. The tower was finished around 1087 by his sons and successors, William Rufus and Henry I.
In the twelfth century, King Richard the Lionheart enclosed the White Tower with a curtain wall and had a moat dug around it filled with water from the River Thames. The moat was not successful until Henry III, in the thirteenth century, employed a Dutch 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; three of them are square, but the one on the north-east is circular. This turret once contained the first Royal observatory. 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.
At the moment the White Tower is undergoing repairs to the brickwork and pointing which will cost £2.5m. You can see the cleverly disguised scaffolding in the second picture.
It was a great day out, the first stop being Waterloo Barracks to see the Crown Jewels. This was a good move as the exhibition was quite quiet, there were huge queues out of the door later on. Also someone switched the sun on whilst I was in there and the afternoon was like a glorious summer’s day.
My, you do get around!
I am not sure you should say that sort of thing about a lady!
Glad to hear the Londoners gave Guillaume le Batard a hard time! Apparently Henry III kept his menagerie of wild animals in the moat. One up from duck houses, I suppose …
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Over the years the menagerie would have created a great Zoo!
Hey, good for you. I remember taking my son there once. It is a spectacular London landmark.
It has fascinating history Ellee
It must have been about 20 years that i went there. It would be good to go again. I am appreciating old things more as I age!
My previous time there was when I was at school, so forgive me for not telling how long ago that was
Ahhh! So THAT’S why there’s that big poster on the side of it!! Thanks, I didn’t know.
I love history- tons of books on history- lots on Tudors- would love to go to the Tower but never have, despite the fact that I worked in the City for 12 years, some of that time at London Bridge- just up the road! D’oh!
I want to see where Lady Jane Grey engraved her name….
You ought to visit I am sure you would love it. I didn’t get to see everything I ran out of time. A good excuse for me to go back
How did I not recognise the Tower of London!
I was surprised. I felt sure you would get it straight away.
[...] day out is complete without some kind of hitch and Saturday was no different. I have got used to [...]