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