by Ken Johnstone

Created on: April 06, 2009

No visit to London could be considered complete without a visit to this outstanding and totally fascinating piece of living history that could nearly be described as the very "soul" of England.

It is said that the Tower dates from the time of William The Conqueror, and it celebrated its official 900th birthday back in 1978. But the reality is that there were already fortifications on this site for more than a thousand years before this, going right back to Roman times and beyond. The Tower is at the very heart of London's history, with all the buildings from Norman times on very well preserved. When you look at it at night, when it is completely floodlit, it becomes a romantic and evocative vision that no film set designer could ever hope to emulate.

One of the oldest remaining parts of the structure is the White Tower, right in the centre, that was built for the aforementioned William The Conqueror. Some alterations were made to the exterior of this tower by the great architect Wren, who was involved in the design and building of so many of London's great buildings, (St. Pauls) but once you get inside the Norman origins are still very much in evidence.

Probably the most infamous of the Towers is the Bloody Tower, because it was in here that most of the important prisoners from bygone days were confined and tortured. One particularly nasty little cell in this tower is somewhat inappropriately named Little Ease, as far from being comfortable, it was actually designed so that the unfortunate prisoner held within couldn't sit, stand, or even lie down. It was in this Tower that a gruesome discovery was made a few years ago, when a well was uncovered in its lower section, filled nearly to the very top with human bones!

Some of its famous inmates must have found it slightly more comfortable however, as they spent so much of their lives behind its walls. The famous English sailor, Sir Walter Raleigh, actually spent thirteen years as a prisoner here. For seven of these years it was actually his "home", as he was permitted to have his wife and family living with him, and his son Carew was actually born here. Much of the work on his famous "History of the World" was written behind its grim walls.

The main tower is surrounded by fifteen others, each with their own name, and the whole complex rests across the ancient wall of the City of London.

There was a fortress here in Roman times, which myth has it was built by none other than Julius Caesar himself, the famous Roman Emperor.

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