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The Liberties of the Tower, or the Tower Liberty, was a liberty in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Central London, which includes both Tower Hill and the Tower of London. The area was defined sometime after 1200 to provide an open area around the Tower to ensure its defensibility.
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England.
Nov 3, 2011 · Mighty fortress. Royal palace. Infamous prison. When William the Conqueror built a mighty stone tower at the centre of his London fortress in the 1070s, defeated Londoners must have looked on in awe. Now nearly 1000 years later, the Tower still has the capacity to fascinate and horrify.
Aug 25, 2024 · Tower of London, royal fortress and London landmark. Its buildings and grounds served historically as a royal palace, a political prison, a place of execution, an arsenal, a royal mint, a menagerie, and a public records office.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- The White Tower
- The Bell Tower and The Wardrobe Tower
- The Beefeaters
- Torture in The Tower of London
- Executions at The Tower
- The Tower of London Today
- Sources
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, in...
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 t...
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 Iordered 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 a...
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 e...
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, ...
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 t...
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.
- Tower of London
The castle encloses an area of almost 12 acres (4.9 hectares) with a further 6 acres (2.4 ha) around the Tower of London constituting the Tower Liberties – land under the direct influence of the castle and cleared for military reasons.
Oct 6, 2022 · Built to impress and terrify, the Tower was first a fortress in the 1070s and then evolved into a prison for enemies of the crown, including Anne Boleyn, the Nine Days' Queen, and Guy Fawkes.
