The Tower of London was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078. It has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, and the home to the Crown Jewels.
About Tower of London in brief
The Tower of London was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078. The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 until 1952, although that was not its primary purpose. It has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, and the home to the Crown Jewels. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site. The Tower was orientated with its strongest and most impressive defences overlooking Saxon London, which archaeologist Alan Vince suggests was deliberate. It would have visually dominated the surrounding area and stood out to traffic on the River Thames. Despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle, its defensive systems lagged behind developments to deal with artillery. In the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period. In the late 15th century, the castle was the prison of the Princes in the Tower. Under the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II in the 17th century,. a procession would be led from the Tower to Westminster Abbey on the coronation of a monarch. The property is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site. It is operated by the Resident Governor of the.
Tower of. London and Keeper of the Jewel House, the keeper of the Crown. Jewels of England, who is responsible for the castle’s security and the upkeep of the jewellery. It was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. Despite its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the World Wars of the 20th century. It witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage in the First and Second World Wars. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired and the castle reopened to the public. Today it is one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under kings Richard I, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The outer ward contains the Tower and is the earliest phase, the inner ward, to east, the outer ward, and west is built during the Reign of Richard I. Finally, there is the ward which encompasses the castle and was built under Edward I. Although there were expansion, the general layout has remained the same since Edward I completed his rebuild in 1285. The precursor of the Liberties was laid out when Henry III ordered a strip of land adjacent to the castle to be kept to be clear for military reasons.
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This page is based on the article Tower of London published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 05, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
