White Tower (Tower of London)
The White Tower was the castle's strongest point militarily, provided accommodation for the king and his representatives, and housed a chapel.
The castle which later became known as the Tower of London was begun by William the Conqueror in 1066 and was built as a timber fortification enclosed by a palisade.
This is because the Textus Roffensis records that Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, oversaw the building work under instruction from William the Conqueror.
The White Tower was probably complete by 1100 at the latest, at which point it was used to imprison Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham.
[5] It was probably during Henry II's reign (1154–1189) that a fore-building was added to the south side of the tower to provide extra defences to the entrance, but it has not survived.
[7] Henry did not explain his order to whitewash the keep but may have been influenced by contemporary fashion in Europe to paint prestigious buildings white.
[10] The records were briefly removed from the White Tower in 1360 to accommodate the captive French king, John II.
Built as storage, it may have been part of Edward's building programme at the Tower of London which saw its role as a military store come to the fore.
[13] Architecturally virtually no trace remains of the White Tower's forebuilding, although it appears in a manuscript drawing c. 1500 depicting the imprisonment of Charles, Duke of Orléans and was recorded in a plan of 1597.
[20] By the last quarter of the 16th century the castle was a tourist attraction with visitors allowed inside despite its use by the Offices of Ordnance and Armoury.
[21] Its role in providing storage directly impacted on the White Tower's structure, and posts were added to support the floors.
When this failed he fled the city, and Parliament retaliated by removing Sir John Byron, the Lieutenant of the Tower.
[11] By 1661 plans had been proposed to clear an area 6 metres (20 ft) around the White Tower to safeguard the dangerous material inside.
During the fire, it was feared the flames might reach the castle, specifically the White Tower, highlighting the need for safety measures.
In the 1670s buildings that had accumulated around the White Tower to provide storage for the Offices of Ordnance and Armoury were pulled down.
In 1825 a building, the New Horse Armoury, to contain effigies of England's kings was constructed against the south of the White Tower.
[26] In 1974, there was a bomb explosion in the Mortar Room in the White Tower, leaving one person dead and 35 injured.
[33] The White Tower is a keep (also known as a donjon), which was often the strongest structure in a medieval castle and contained lodgings suitable for the lord—in this case, the king or his representative.
[37] Allen Brown and P. Curnow suggested that the design may have been based on the now vanished 10th-century keep of Château de Rouen, which belonged to the Dukes of Normandy.
The entrance, as is usual in Norman keeps, was above ground (in this case on the south face) and accessed via a wooden staircase which could be removed in the event of an attack.
[6] As the building was intended to be a comfortable residence as well as a stronghold, latrines were built into the walls, and four fireplaces provided warmth.
As most of the Tower's windows were enlarged in the 18th century, only two original – albeit restored – examples remain, in the south wall at gallery level.
Although the layout has remained the same since the tower's construction, the interior of the basement dates mostly from the 18th century when the floor was lowered and the pre-existing timber vaults were replaced with brick counterparts.
[40] The north floor contained a grand hall in the west and a residential chamber in the east – both originally open to the roof and surrounded by a gallery built into the wall – and St John's Chapel in the south-east.
[43] From its northeast corner, a wooden staircase ornamented with two carvings titled "Gin" and "Beer" ascended to Queen Elizabeth's Armoury.
It was described by Robert Hutchinson as "where sunlight never penetrated, perhaps part of the Coldharbour gate that once stood at the south-eastern corner of the White Tower,[46] where rats supposedly tore flesh...from the arms and legs of prisoners during sleep.
"[47] The semi-circular projection in the south-east corner to accommodate St John's Chapel is almost unparalleled in castle architecture.
[49] St John's Chapel was not part of the White Tower's original design, as the apsidal projection was built after the basement walls.
In the 13th century, during Henry III's reign, the chapel was decorated with such ornamentation as a gold-painted cross, and stained glass windows that depicted the Virgin Mary and Holy Trinity.
