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Some Interesting Info on
the Tower of London
At the centre of the Tower of London stands the
Norman White Tower built in 1078 by William the Conqueror (reigned
1066-87) inside the southeast angle of the city walls, adjacent to the
Thames. This was as much to protect the Normans from the people of the
City of London as to protect London from outside invaders. William
appointed Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, as the architect. Fine Caen stone,
imported from France, was used for the corners of the building and as door
and window dressings, though Kentish ragstone was used for the bulk of the
edifice. According to legend the mortar used in its construction was
tempered by the blood of beasts. Another legend ascribed the Tower not to
William but to the Romans. William Shakespeare in his play Richard III
stated that it was built by Julius Caesar.
The White Tower is 90 feet (27 m) high and the walls vary from 15 feet
(4.5 m) thick at the base to almost 11 feet (3.3 m) in the upper parts.
Above the battlements rise four turrets; three of them are square, but the
one on the northeast is circular, in order to accommodate a spiral
staircase. This turret was briefly used as the first royal observatory in
the reign of Charles II. Completing the defences to the south of the Tower
was the bailey.
In the 1190s, King Richard the Lionheart (reigned 1189-99) enclosed the
White Tower with a curtain wall, and had a moat dug around it filled with
water from the Thames. Richard utilised the pre-existing Roman city wall,
to the east, as part of the circuit. Part of the wall he built was
incorporated into the later circuit wall of Henry III and is still extant,
running between the Bloody Tower and the Bell Tower, the latter of which
also dates to his reign. In 1240 Henry III had the exterior of the
building whitewashed, which is how it got its name.
Due to the changes in function and design the tower’s interior has gone
through since its construction there is little left of the original
interior, save the chapel. St John’s Chapel, located on east side of the
first level, is perhaps the “most complete surviving examples of early
Anglo-Norman ecclesiastical architecture.” Archeological evidence shows
that the space was considered in the original design of the tower plan.
This is seen in the foundations of the building which include an apsidal
projection, which deviates from the basic rectangular box layout of the
tower’s main part. Described as resembling a choir of a Romanesque church
of apse and ambulatory design, this space is marked a simple layout.
In keeping with the characteristics of Romanesque design the design
includes the ever common rounded arches, as seen in the arcade, and the
vaulted nave and aisles, where respectively barrel and groin vaulting was
employed. The nave is flanked by two aisles, which are separated by
columns at form a arcade which creates the ambulatory. The columns of the
arcade are opposite the pilasters along the outer walls of the aisles.
Above is a gallery arcade which lets in more light into the space, but is
not a clerestory in the sense that it is above the roof.
The defining element of this space is the design of the columns’ capitals.
While at first glance the design is uniform, further examination shows
that the capitals are quite varied. Some are block-shaped, some have
volutes, and others are cushion capitals. Yet, what these capitals, save
three, have in common is the “rare embellishment of Tau crosses, or
T-shaped projections.” These crosses are reminiscent of designs common to
Anglo-Norman architecture of this period.
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