Tower of London

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‘The Tower of London’

The Tower of London, one of the city's great icons, has been an imposing fortress keeping both invaders and rowdy natives at bay since the early 1080s, when William the Conqueror ordered the construction of large fortifications on the Thames. The Jewel House, containing the Crown Jewels (though some may be 'in use'), and the White Tower, containing Henry VIIIs' armour, unmissable.

3 / 5 Review by member matt_b

‘Twelve towered fortress’

Set beside the north bank of the River Thames, with a wide moat around the other sides, this is a concentric fortress with a lofty inner wall with twelve towers overlooking a lower outer wall with corner bastions later made into gun emplacements. Most of both walls are mid to late 13th century and the towers are generally circular in plan, but the octagonal Bell Tower may be slightly older. Traitor’s Gate is a water-gate on the river bank but the main entrance is through a pair of twin-towered gateways facing west. Little remains of the medieval internal buildings apart from a mostly 16th century chapel but there is William I’s splendid central keep of the 1080 called the White Tower. Despite its architectural importance, this fortress is most noted for the many famous prisoners kept here, many of them beheaded on Tower Green, plus its collections of arms, armour and cannon, and also its team of warders known as Beefeaters.

5 / 5 Review by expert member Mike Salter

‘Spooky experiences at the Tower of London’

Not normally a believer, I visited the Tower knowing there were supposed to be ghosts but not expecting to see anything untoward. We had arranged a special tour with the towers guards as they close up (you have to write in to them and see if you can get invited and my Uncle did, he’s into history.). They take you around rattling their keys and locking up all the big doors and gates, which was actually more atmospheric than I thought it would be. We were all chatting then our guard started telling us ghost stories - now it was summer so it wasn’t even that dark but when we got down on the river side and we started locking up the doors on the bottom floors the temperature dropped really quickly. We all noticed it, but I thought it was just the shaded section near the water being cooler. Then I felt a bit of a breeze coming from behind a sealed door and the air on my arms stood up and I felt a bit of a chill. I didn’t want to tell anyone but it turned out that one of the other people in the group had felt it as well. The guard went and had a look at the door - he said it’s never really unlocked, but he’d have a look inside, the woman got a bit nervous then and kept saying not to worry, but by this stage everyone else was egging him on - some people came on the tour hoping to see something unexpected. Anyway we had a look in the room which was really really cold and smelled strange, kind of sulphurous. There wasn’t much in there it was just a storage room with some boxes, anyway we’re all standing in there when the light flickers, we all laugh nervously and then it flickers again then turns off. We all moved towards the door very quickly. We didn’t see anything but the smell and the chill followed by the lights was enough for me to want to follow this up, so I’m going to do a bit of research on what the room is used for, or was used for more importantly. I read the bit about bad energy sticking around and that could easily apply here - loads of bad things have happened. Anyway I’ll update when I have found out more but I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience. I’m now less sure about what I believe in.

4 / 5 Review by member nathanpavey

‘Tower of London’

The massive White Tower is a typical example of Norman military architecture, whose influence was felt throughout the kingdom. It was built on the Thames by William the Conqueror to protect London and assert his power. The Tower of London – an imposing fortress with many layers of history, which has become one of the symbols of royalty – was built around the White Tower.

3 / 5 Review by editor World Reviewer Staff