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Tower of London

By: History.com Editors

Updated: August 21, 2018 | Original: July 18, 2017

The Tower of London is one of the world’s oldest and most famous prisons, though its original purpose was not to house criminals. In fact, the Tower, which is actually a complex of several towers and structures, was built in the latter part of the 11th century as fortress to protect London, the capital city of the British Empire. The Tower of London soon became notorious for its other, more brutal, uses.

The White Tower

Initial construction of the “White Tower,” the oldest structure in the Tower of London complex, started in 1078 and was completed in 1100, during the rule of King William II.

It was designed and built by Gundulf of Rochester, a Norman bishop who has been credited with overseeing the construction of a number of important sites in English history, including the Priory and Cathedral Church in his home city.

The White Tower was made from white limestone (hence its name) imported from Caen in northwestern France as well as a local building material called Kentish ragstone.

While designed as a battlement, the Tower of London soon found use as a prison. When King Henry I assumed the throne in 1100, following the assassination of his brother, William II, one of his first acts was to order the arrest of Rannulf Flambard, the Bishop of Durham.

Flambard was charged with the crime of simony, or the act of selling administrative positions in the church for money. He became the first prisoner held in the Tower of London, though he later escaped.

The Bell Tower and the Wardrobe Tower

Subsequent monarchs took steps to fortify and expand the complex. Construction of the Bell Tower commenced in 1190 and was completed in 1210. The bell at the top of the tower was rung to warn of emergencies, such as a fire or impending enemy attack.

The Wardrobe Tower was also commissioned in 1190 and completed in 1199. As the name indicates, the tower was used to hold the royal garments and the famous Crown Jewels of England .

Ten years after completion of the Bell Tower, King Henry III ordered construction of the Wakefield and Lanthorn towers, the latter being the Old English spelling of the present-day word “lantern.”

As the name suggests, a lantern was positioned at night at the top of the Lanthorn Tower to help guide ships entering the River Thames and the historic port of London.

The Beefeaters

Over the ensuing centuries, many towers as well as a protective wall were added to the Tower of London complex. In the late 1200s, for example, King Edward I ordered the construction of a mint in the complex, which remained in use until 1968.

Since 1485, security at the Tower of London complex has been maintained by a special order of guards known as the Yeomen Warders, commonly known as “the Beefeaters.”

The name of the Beefeaters is allegedly based on a comment from an Italian nobleman in the 17th century, who remarked that members of the security corps were given a large daily ration of beef.

Torture in the Tower of London

The Tower of London’s role as a prison evolved to make it the preferred incarceration site for anyone—even members of the royalty—deemed a threat to national security.

As cruel as the place was known to be, however, not all prisoners suffered terrible conditions. Wealthy inmates, for example, were allowed to live relatively luxuriously, with some even allowed to leave to go on hunting trips.

Scottish King John Balliol was able to bring his own servants, hunting dogs and wife with him when he was imprisoned for three years at the Tower until he was allowed to go to France, in exile, in 1299.

Although the site became notorious as a site of torture—most notably with the infamous device known as “the rack”—records suggest relatively few inmates were tortured. Torture was used as a means of compelling political prisoners to provide their captors with information, primarily in the 16th and 17th centuries.

These prisoners were forced to lie down on the rack, with their hands and feet bound. Ropes attached to these bindings were slowly pulled to inflict pain.

Executions at the Tower

Torture may have been fairly rare, but executions were relatively common at the Tower of London. Scores of prisoners were executed at the site, by beheading, firing squad or hanging.

Writer and statesman Sir Thomas More was beheaded in the Tower after refusing to recognize King Henry VIII as the head of the Church of England in 1535. A year later, Henry VIII famously ordered the beheading of his wife, Anne Boleyn . In 1542, Henry VIII had his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, executed at the Tower of London as well.

Perhaps most notably, political prisoner Guy Fawkes was executed at the Tower in 1606. Fawkes was arrested for his role in a plot to blow up Parliament, after he was found guarding a cache of explosives and gunpowder in the basement of the legislature on November 5, 1605.

Guy Fawkes Night is still celebrated in much of the United Kingdom on that date, to commemorate the foiling of that plot and the survival of the British Empire.

In addition, King Edward VI was murdered at the Tower of London in 1471 during the War of the Roses civil war.

The Tower of London Today

The Tower of London has been a tourist attraction in the city since the late 19th century, but while Simon Fraser was the last person executed by beheading at the prison, in 1745, for his role in the Scottish Jacobite Rebellion, the facility retained its role in crime and punishment well into the 20th century.

Eleven German spies were executed at the Tower of London during World War I . Interestingly, although London suffered numerous attacks during that conflict, only one bomb was dropped on the Tower. It landed in the moat.

The facility wasn’t so fortunate during World War II . The Tower complex suffered significant damage during multiple bombings, with several buildings destroyed.

The Tower of London still fulfilled its role as a prison in that conflict, however, with Hitler’s second in command, Rudolf Hess, incarcerated there in 1941, after he was captured in Scotland.

Hess was later transferred to another prison. He was eventually tried at Nuremberg and given a life sentence. He died in 1987.

Another Nazi, German spy Josef Jakobs, was the last person executed at the Tower. He was shot in August 1941.

Prisoners of the Tower. Historic Royal Palaces . King John Balliol of Scotland (1292-1296). BritRoyals.com . German spy Josef Jakobs was last man to be executed in Tower of London. The Daily Telegraph .

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The Tower of London The Tower of London.

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The story of the Tower of London

Subject: History

Age range: 7-11

Resource type: Other

Last updated

7 August 2014

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The Tower of London

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The Tower of London. History Year 8. The White Tower. To the far south east corner of the City of London lies, arguably, the most famous and historic of all London landmarks. The UK’s top visitor attraction - The Tower of London. .

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The Tower of London History Year 8

The White Tower

To the far south east corner of the City of London lies, arguably, the most famous and historic of all London landmarks. The UK’s top visitor attraction - The Tower of London.

Dominated at its centre by the very recognisable White Tower, the history of The Tower of London extends right the way back nearly 1,000 years to when William the Conqueror first built the White Tower in 1078 as a fortress to protect the City.

William the Conqueror The great central keep was built by William the Conqueror and finished by his sons and successors, William Rufus and Henry I.

The Tower of London is the oldest palace, fortress and prison in Europe. The site William chose was the same one on which Claudius, the Roman Emperor, had built a fort more than a thousand years earlier; traces of the Roman wall can still be seen in the Tower. As king succeeded king the fortress was enlarged by building walls and smaller towers around the central keep. Towards the end of the 12th century Richard I added to its might by encircling it with a moat fed by the River Thames. (The moat was drained in 1830 whereupon many human bones were found – ugh!) The Tower of London is roughly square in shape with two lines of defensive walls enclosing the great White Tower. At intervals on the inner wall are thirteen smaller towers; this is the Inner Ward. The outer wall is defended by six towers on the river face, and by two semi-circular bastions at the northeast and northwest corners.

And ever since, over the centuries, The Tower of London has been at the very heart of English history having been closely associated with many famous and, indeed, infamous historical figures - as well as a few not inconsiderable historical events, mostly, it has to be said, of the bloodiest and most grizzly kinds.

Home, sweet home! • In the White Tower the medieval kings of England lived with their families and their court. • Here was the seat of government and here the laws of the land were made. • The royal family lived in the top storey; the council chamber was on the floor below.

It was customary for each monarch to lodge in the Tower before his coronation and to ride in procession to Westminster through the city of London from the Tower. • John Stow wrote during the reign of Elizabeth I, The Tower of London was "...a citadel to defend or command the city, a royal palace for assemblies or treaties, a prison of state for the most dangerous offenders; the only place of coinage for all England, the armoury for warlike provision; the treasury of the ornaments and jewels of the crown; and general conserver of the most records of the queen's courts of justice". • In fact the Tower was no longer used as a royal residence, except before coronations, when Stow wrote those words. The Tudors had changed all that.

Because when Henry VIII came to the throne he had different ideas! • Shortly after Henry VIII was crowned, his chief London residence, the Palace of Westminster, was destroyed by fire. So he was forced to make frequent use of the Tower. • But then he began building his new palace at Bridewell. • Some time after 1529 Cardinal Wolsey gave him York Place which Henry VIII transformed into Whitehall Palace. • And soon after that he began to build St. James Palace. • So he had little use for the rather cramped conditions in the Tower except for ceremonial occasions such the crowning of Anne Boleyn

Other uses of the Tower • The Tower was used as fortress and a prison. • It has housed the Royal Mint, the Public Records, and the Royal Observatory • For centuries it was the arsenal for arms and armour. • And, since it is one of the strongest fortresses in England, it has guarded and continues to guard the crown jewels.

In Henry VIII’s reign • The Tower adapted to the new age of artillery. Guns were positioned on various towers and the roof beams had to be strengthened in order to carry the weight. • Usually the guns had no more than a ceremonial function. However, when riots broke out in the city during the early reign of Henry VIII, he used the guns to try and subdue the mob. It didn't work! • The Tower had been used as an arsenal since the 14th century. Henry expanded that. Within a few years of his accession the Tower held so many guns a visitor noted "Hell itself could not resist so powerful a force". Though Henry bought many of the arms from foreign sources, he also brought gun founders to London and set up a gun foundry and gunpowder mill in the Tower. • Henry had so much ordnance he used all available space within the Tower for storage. When he ran out of room in Tower itself he built a new warehouse. • The ordnance stored at the Tower supplied not only Henry's Army, but his Navy as well. Today Henry's largest gun, 5 tons, which was used on his flagship The Great Harry is once again in the Tower along with guns from The Mary Rose.

The Lion Tower • And from the 13th century until 1834 it housed the Royal Menagerie in the Lion Tower. • Henry I kept lions in the tower, hence its name. • Henry II was sent 3 leopards by Frederick III, and a white bear from the King of Norway, and later an elephant from Louis of France. • James I is said to have entertained his guests to a bear baiting display in the Bear Pit. • In 1834 the menagerie was sent to Regents Park where it formed the nucleus of the present London Zoo.

The Lion Tower

Traitor’s Gate • When you first arrive at the Tower, you walk by the water entry which has come to be known as Traitor's Gate. Traitors gate

Traitor’s Gate • It is here, the entrance to the Tower of London from the River Thames, through which many high ranking prisoners came to serve their sentence. • Many famous prisoners arrived at the Tower this way, including Elizabeth 1 before she became Queen, when she was imprisoned by her sister Mary. • Elizabeth is said to have proclaimed upon that landing in 1554: "Here lands as true a subject, being prisoner, as ever landed at these stairs."

Why was she imprisoned? • When her Roman Catholic half-sister, Mary I, inherited the crown in 1553, Elizabeth faced different dangers. • She was now sought out to lead Protestant conspiracies, despite the fact that she had supported Mary’s accession and attended Catholic services. • Mary was afraid of what Elizabeth might do.

In 1554 Mary had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London, briefly threatened her with execution, and then placed her under house arrest. Elizabeth lived quietly at her family’s country retreat north of London until she became queen upon her sister’s death in 1558.

Inside St Thomas’s Towerwhere Elizabeth lived St Thomas’ Tower

Elizabeth spent just two months in the Tower of London, but she had no idea that her stay would be so brief - and it did not feel particularly brief.  She truly believed some harm would come to her and she dwelt most upon the possibility of poison.  She knew Mary hated her and that many of her councillors constantly spoke ill of her, encouraging either her imprisonment or execution.

The Tower as a prison • The Tower of London was used to imprison only the aristocracy. • Ordinary folks were generally sent to Newgate Prison and executed at Tyburn 3 miles away (where the present day Marble Arch stands. • Many of the aristocracy were beheaded on Tower Hill, before a large crowd

A public beheading!

Tower Green • There is a plaque that commemorates the spot on Tower Green where the scaffold stood for private executions. • The area was paved by order of Queen Victoria. The plaque lists the names of people known to have been executed here.

Main entrance today

Although the Tower of London is today seen as a visitor attraction, it is also a thriving community; about 150 people still live within its walls including the Yeoman Warders (or ‘Beefeaters’) and their families, the Tower Doctor and Chaplain, the Resident Governor and, of course, the famous Ravens.

Beefeaters • The Yeoman Warders came to be nicknamed ‘Beefeaters’ because of the special rations and privileges they have enjoyed over the centuries enabling them to dine, for example, on unlimited amounts of meat - beef in particular. However, this was sometimes frowned upon as being inappropriate and unfair, especially at times when meat was considered a luxury and well beyond the means of ordinary people.

There was never a time when the Tower was only used as prison, and there were long periods when there were no prisoners at all. The most intensive period of internment was between the mid-16th and mid-17th centuries. Within the castle, there are no purpose-built 'prison cells'; prisoners have been kept in whatever space could be found for them.

The Bell Tower

The Crown Jewels

The Ravens Legend has it that Charles II was told that if the Ravens left the Tower, the monarchy would fall; so he ensured that a limited number would be kept here permanently. The Ravens are cared for by one of the Yeoman Warders, with the title of Ravenmaster. Their lodgings, next to the Wakefield Tower, can be visited. Ever since, seven ravens are in permanent residence in the Tower of London; their wings are clipped, so they can't fly away.

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