Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
White Tower
This square, 90-foot-tall tower was the original structure that gave this castle complex of
20 towers its name. William the Conqueror built it more than 900 years ago to put 15 feet
of stone between himself and those he conquered. Over the centuries, the other walls and
towers were built around it.
The keep was a last line of defense. The original entry (on the south side) is above
ground level so that the wooden approach (you'll climb its modern successor to get in,
and lots more stairs once you're inside) could be removed, turning the tower into a safe
refuge. Originally, there were even fewer windows—the lower windows were added dur-
ing a Christopher Wren-ovation in 1660. In the 13th century, the tower was painted white
(hence the name).
Standing high above the rest of old London, the White Tower provided a gleaming re-
minder of the monarch's absolute power over subjects. If you made the wrong move here,
you could be feasting on roast boar in the Banqueting Hall one night and chained to the
walls of the prison the next. Torture ranged from stretching on the rack to the full monty:
