| Tradition has it that as long as the ravens remain at | | | | fortress. He contributed a new Great Hall, a kitchen |
| the Tower of London, which they have occupied since | | | | block and additional accommodations. He flooded the |
| the fortress first stood along the River Thames, the | | | | moat with the waters of the River Thames and |
| kingdom will persevere. Today, the huge black birds, | | | | enclosed the Church of St. Peter ad Vincula within the |
| sporting names like Hardey, Odin, Gwyllum and Cedric, | | | | curtain wall. He also established a royal menagerie |
| wander the inner courtyard of the Tower, their wings | | | | inside the castle which housed an elephant, bears, lions |
| clipped to ensure their continued residence. As with the | | | | and other exotic animals that were presented to him |
| ravens, the Tower of London also endures, despite | | | | by the crown heads of European nations.Later in the |
| assaults in the 13th and 14th centuries and more | | | | 13th century, Edward I transformed the Tower of |
| recently, aerial bombing raids during the Second World | | | | London into a fine concentric fortress like those he built |
| War. The fortress's battlements command international | | | | in North Wales. Edward was a castle builder at heart |
| attention, for this majestic World Heritage Site | | | | and he undertook the redesign of the castle. First he |
| embodies the history and spirit of the land it | | | | filled in the moat that Henry III had flooded and |
| represents.The proper title is "Her Majesty's Royal | | | | enclosed the fortress with yet another - albeit lower - |
| Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London" and it | | | | towered curtain that was fitted with heavily defended |
| has dutifully served the monarchy since the 11th | | | | twin-towered gatehouses. He also added St. Thomas's |
| century. That was when William the Conqueror | | | | Tower, which had a water gate for access to and |
| ordered the construction of stone keep to command | | | | from the River Thames. Now know as Traitor's Gate, |
| his new kingdom. Planting his castle in the corner of the | | | | this access gained its name from the prisoners who |
| walls that enclosed the Roman city of Londinium, | | | | passed through on their way to confinement and |
| William I began one of the realm's earliest and possibly | | | | execution. Among the most famous of these prisoners |
| finest, stone keeps. Later known as The White Tower | | | | under Henry VIII's reign were Anne Boleyn, Catherine |
| after the brilliance of its whitewashed walls, the | | | | Howard and Sir Thomas More, after whom the tower |
| Norman keep retains its classical rectangular design | | | | was named.Edward I also built a royal mint inside the |
| and forms the centrepiece of this great fortress on | | | | castle and added a treasury to house the Crown |
| the Thames.Altered over time, the 90 foot high tower | | | | Jewels. Now housed in the Jewel House, the Crown |
| initially provided accommodation for the king and the | | | | Jewels remain one of the Tower's biggest attractions. |
| castle's constable and even housed important | | | | The Tudor kings expanded the Tower of London's |
| prisoners in its finer upper chambers, for example the | | | | role as a prison and staged scores of political |
| Duke of Orleans, who resided there in the 15th century. | | | | executions on Tower Green and Tower Hill. Today a |
| Meanwhile, with its 15 foot thick walls, the basement | | | | plaque commemorates the 125 prisoners who lost their |
| was used occasionally to imprison less savoury | | | | lives there.By the late 17th century, the castle's role as |
| characters. On the second storey, the Chapel Royal | | | | a state prison diminished. The Office of Ordnance |
| of St. John the Evangelist with its smooth unpainted | | | | began to occupy the site and with them came |
| walls, bestows grace and dignity upon this great | | | | munitions stores, military workshops, a barracks and |
| keep.Over time, succeeding monarchs surrounded the | | | | gun batteries. In the 1840s the Army constructed the |
| White Tower with towered walls, palatial buildings and | | | | North Bastion, Waterloo Barracks and other structures |
| a military depot but the turreted keep has always | | | | to counter local civil unrest from the Chartist |
| remained the castle's most recognizable feature. Both | | | | Movement. Beginning in the 1850s, Queen Victoria and |
| physically and visually, its owners intended the Tower | | | | Prince Albert began restoring the castle's medieval |
| of London to dominate, intimidate and impress | | | | appearance.Visit the Tower of London today and you |
| onlookers. Every angle reinforced the notion that here | | | | will be regaled by the Beefeaters with stories of |
| stood a royal stronghold with no rival.In the 13th | | | | treason, beheadings, torture and ghostly apparitions. |
| century, Henry III began an ambitious expansion | | | | Managed by the Historic Royal Palaces, the Tower is |
| program at the site, adding a massive curtain wall that | | | | open daily throughout the year for an entrance fee. |
| had nine sturdy towers and doubled the size of the | | | | |