The Tower of London
The Tower of London plays a unique role in the history of the English nation and still remains an essential landmark of the city of London. The rising of the Tower marks a new era for English castles in which the architectural styles of the continent were merged into the local design. Through almost 1000 years of transformation under crowned heads, the scale of the Tower had been more than doubled, and its functions were continuously improved. This essay will discuss how the Tower of London, with its well-designed layout, was able to serve defensive, residential, and administrative purposes for generations of medieval monarchs.
The White Tower was the donjon of this complex, and itself was initially built as a fortification to defend against numerous hostile inhabitants during rebellions. The location was carefully chosen with a military advantage — on the north bank of the Thames River in central London (Fig. 1). Building the castle near water prevents the attack of heavy weapons since they would quickly sink into the soggy ground. Besides, it stood 90 feet high on sloping ground, giving it a clear view of advancing invaders in the valleys below. The two western corners of the White Tower were square, while the northeast had a round turret housing a spiral staircase. The south wall ended eastward in a half-round bow shape which is the apse of the St John’s Chapel. The castle was composed of three floors with Caen stone walls from 12 to 15 feet thick. Each floor was divided into three chambers by a 10 feet thick wall, “the largest in the west, a smaller room in the northeast, and the chapel taking up the entrance and upper floors of the southeast.” The entrance on the south, conforming to the tradition of Norman keeps, was above ground and reached by a timber stairway against the side which could be removed during an attack. The narrow spiral staircases inside the Tower of London were mostly turned clockwise as they rose. In this way, the attacker had to lead with his left side as he climbed the stairs, which makes it awkward for him to fight with his right hand. During Henry II’s reign, a forebuilding was added to the entrance to provide further protection, but it was demolished in the 17th century.
The rest of the layout was the radiation of the stronghold from every direction, which includes a combination of moats, defensive walls, and towers along the walls. Archeological excavations have proved the existence of an early Norman ditch that “enclosed the castle in an area of only 11/4 acres.” During Richard I’s reign, his chancellor William Longchamp was in charge of improving the defenses of the Tower. Longchamp began digging a new ditch “occupied the same north-east to southwest alignment as the earlier Norman ditch” and continued westward to meet the Thames. He nearly doubled the size of the Tower by “extending the south curtain wall westwards along the river, and built a new tower, the Bell Tower, at its southwest corner.” The heavy stone curtain wall provided the primary defenses of the castle and created the so-called “inner ward” around the White Tower. It was “crowned with battlements of alternating solid parts (merlons) and spaces (crenels), creating a characteristic square-toothed pattern.” Wall walks along the top gave defenders room to move around as they fought off invaders. Longchamp also included the state-of-the-art military technology: mangonels that could “hurl huge rocks further and faster than existing catapults.” Henry III later initiated a second layer of curtain wall to the west and north of the Tower with an entrance in the middle of the western part. The encircling wall connected a range of new towers: the Devereux, the Flint, the Bowyer, the Martin, the Constable, and the Broad Arrow. The extra curtains were lower than the inner curtains, making it harder for attackers to break into a castle (Fig. 2). During battles, arrow shooters standing on top of the inner curtain could target the enemies outside the castle above the defenders standing on the outer curtain. Even if attackers broke down the outer fortification, they would become easy targets for archers on the inner curtain. Arrow slits were pierced on the curtain walls (Fig. 3). On the inside, they were “wide enough for archers to shoot out,” but on the outside, they were “too narrow for attackers to shoot into.” Moreover, Henry III completed Longchamp’s work by turning his ditch into a wide moat. King Edward I then contributed to the last major permanent transformation of the layout. Succeeding his father’s construction of the Outer Ward and the second curtain wall, he managed to conceive a “concentric” castle.
The Tower was intended to be a comfortable residence for the royal family as well as a stronghold. It incorporated a series of private rooms and bedrooms around a great hall — usually the most significant room — for ceremonies and formal dining. The upper floor of the White Tower was reserved for the use of the Tower’s commander and accommodated important guests. A fireplace in the great hall provided heat, and latrines were built into the walls. The lowest floor was a basement on the north half. With narrow window slits, it was initially used for storing food and drink, although one of the rooms did contain a well for water supply during a siege. Each king assigned new living quarters for the royal family once they moved into the Tower. For instance, Henry III had his private quarters on the first floor of the Wakefield Tower, constructed with large windows and a fireplace. The lower floor was the guardroom of the soldiers who protected their king. In the case of Edward I, further accommodations were created in the new watergate, known as St Thomas Tower. The lower level was a water-filled basin connected to the Thames producing a waterway passage for the king’s private guests and the upper floor contained a warm and convenient suite of rooms. In addition, the royal family’s religious devotion was manifested through the continuous investment in St John Chapel and the St Peter ad Vincula located in the northwest corner of the Tower’s new Inner Ward. Henry III ordered the redecoration process: the figures of saints were colored, stained-glass windows were installed, and chapel ceilings were renovated. Furthermore, the Tower was also where the king’s leisure-time activities took place. From the 1200s, it housed a menagerie of exotic wild animals that was never seen before in London, including lions and a polar bear given as royal gifts.
The administrative and political role of the Tower of London was attributed to its utilization as a public record office, an armory, a prison lodging, and the home of the Royal Mint. The windowless form and restricted access suggest that the ground floor of the White Tower once functioned as “a strong room for the safekeeping of royal treasures and important documents.” This floor was also where the Tower’s garrison resided. The Hundred Years’ War between France and England began in 1340 and led to an increasing demand for space to store military equipment. Along with the expense of domestic accommodation, the Privy Wardrobe within the Tower was established for the storage of military supplies. Strong rooms were also designed to preserve royal properties such as the king’s robes, jewels, books, and even furniture. Most buildings within the complex once served as a prison, and where a person was kept depended on his rank. The White Tower seems to imprison the most famous hostages, including the Welsh prince Gruffyd, King John of France, and Charles, Duke of Orleans. As a result of warfare, Edward III turned the Tower into a state prison. Around the mid-14th century, it captured King David Bruce of Scotland and the King of France, Jean II. Besides, the establishment of the Mint in the Outer Ward during the reign of Edward I commenced over five hundred years of coinage at the Tower.
The Tower of London had played a prominent role in English history. Although it was originally constructed to be the fortification of the Norman ruling class, it later became a comparable royal residence and administrative institution. Today, it still stands magnificently along the Thames River as a symbol of British royal heritage.
Bibliography
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Impey, Edward, and Geoffrey Parnell. The Tower of London: the Official Illustrated History. London: Merrell in association with Historic Royal Palaces, 2000.
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Jones, Nigel H. 2013. Tower: An Epic History of the Tower of London. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin.
Lapper, Ivan, Geoffrey Parnell, and Jane Penrose. 2000. The Tower of London: A 2000-Year History. Oxford England: Osprey Publishing.
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“The Tower of London Menagerie.” n.d. Historic Royal Palaces. https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower -of-london/history-and-stories/the-tower-of-london-menagerie/.
