| There is so much to see at the Tower including the 'Yeomen of the Guard', the Ravens, Henry VIII's armour, instruments of torture in Lower Wakefield Tower and the Traitors Gate. The nearest tube station is Tower Hill on the Circle and District underground lines. The Tower Gateway station on the Docklands Light Railway is also within easy walking distance.
William decided he needed a stronghold to keep the unruly citizens of London in line. The site upon which William chose to build his fortress was the very same site upon which Claudius, the Roman Emperor, had built a fortress more than a thousand years before that and traces of the Roman wall are still seen within the Tower grounds.
The addition of other smaller towers, extra buildings, walls and walkways, gradually transformed the original building into the splendid example of castle, fortress, prison, palace and finally museum that we enjoy today.
The Tower began its life as a simple timber and stone enclosure. The
original structure was completed by the addition of a ditch and palisade
along the north and west sides. This enclosure then received a structure
of stone, which came to be called The Great Tower and eventually The White
Tower, as we know it today and for car hire you must go to alquiler coches
Around the year 1240 King Henry III made the Tower of London his home. He whitewashed the tower, widened the grounds to include a church, and added a great hall and other buildings. The Normans called the tower 'La Tour Blanche' [White tower]. |
