The White Tower: Part 2...Day 5e

                                                                          There are, in fact, 21 towers and 18 acres in the Tower of London complex.. I am not sure we actually covered all eighteen of the acres or visited all the towers...



(but I am fairly certain we hit all the gift shops-they were very conveniently located)







The architecture of the various towers and buildings is said to represent almost all the various styles that have flourished in England throughout the years.

The White Tower is the oldest one and I think the largest one as well. When you enter the White Tower, you must climb up dozens and dozens of wooden stairs because the entrance is well above ground level, just as it was in the days of yore, to protect against enemy attack. If the enemy threat was imminent (because the moat had been crossed and the walls breached) as a last resort they would burn or knock down the wooden stairs. We trudged up those stairs, just as people had done centuries before. Probably not many commoners like us, however.

                           I may or may not have grumbled a bit on the way up. It was a very long climb.
                           I am pretty sure Rachel, Sara and Heather weren't grumbling, though.
                                               They had had their morning cuppa.

The White Tower-not as white as it used to be

Old Roman walls

The Keep-the strongest and most secure tower of the castle

Since the White Tower was the "keep" which was built to be the strongest and last defense, it is only logical that weapons and armoury would be on display here.

I just didn't expect there would be so much of it.


 

 
  I had never seen this many suits of armor and swords before in one place. In fact, I don't think I had ever seen one suit of armour in my whole life. But here, in the halls of the White Tower, even the horses had armour...and little kids...and a dragon.
 

                                                            The horse and his armour...

 
                     more armour...

 Behind the glare, you can see a child's suit of armour. I think that was the armour of the child who was to become King Henry VIII.

More armour... but not even a fraction of what was on display.

                                    I don't actually know what the deal was with this dragon...

                                 But he was a dragon made of armour...an armoured dragon...

 

These last three photographs are from Rachel's camera. I find it very interesting that her baby CHARLES HENRY was born less than a year after these pictures were taken. Coincidental? I think not...

t the heart of the Tower of London is the White Tower. It is the oldest part of the Tower, built to strike fear and submission into the unruly citizens of London. - See more at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/WhiteTower#sthash.OePOU3Fr.dpuf

At the heart of the Tower of London is the White Tower. It is the oldest part of the Tower, built to strike fear and submission into the unruly citizens of London.
- See more at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/WhiteTower#sthash.OePOU3Fr.dpuf

At the heart of the Tower of London is the White Tower. It is the oldest part of the Tower, built to strike fear and submission into the unruly citizens of London.
- See more at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/WhiteTower#sthash.OePOU3Fr.dpuf

At the heart of the Tower of London is the White Tower. It is the oldest part of the Tower, built to strike fear and submission into the unruly citizens of London.
- See more at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/WhiteTower#sthash.OePOU3Fr.dpuf

At the heart of the Tower of London is the White Tower. It is the oldest part of the Tower, built to strike fear and submission into the unruly citizens of London.
- See more at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/WhiteTower#sthash.OePOU3Fr.dpuf

Warning! Definition ahead! The teacher in me cannot resist providing a definition and a sketch.


The "keep" is the stronghold of a medieval castle, usually in the form of a massive tower. Sometimes the word refers to the entire castle that would be a fortified residence; other times it is just the tower that is the refuge of last resort.

Just in case you didn't know this. You are welcome.

The White Tower--Part 1...Day 5d

Upon the old Roman walls the White Tower was built by William the Conqueror (or more correctly, by his contractors) shortly after he did what he was most famous for, that is, conquering England. The citizens weren't totally in favor of this so he ordered construction of a castle and its corresponding keep to serve as a symbol of his power and also as defensive military strategy.

 

  And he had it fitted out to be a residence fit for royalty.

 

And he didn't forget to include a bedroom. or a chapel. or a throne room. or a throne.

 or a throne. (am I repeating myself?)

What is pictured here is known as the "garderobe" which is the latrine.

Besides its usual function, the garderobe was often built in or near where clothing was stored because the pungent smells served to repel moths. And I would imagine many a fine lady as well.

The word "wardrobe" is derived from the word "garderobe" in case you have been wondering.

(bare with me, ok?)   (oops...I think I meant "bear" with me)

And of course, there were fireplaces for warmth and for cooking. And it eased my mind considerably to  notice that a fire extinguisher is conveniently stored beside it.

This fireplace was actually quite innovative in that it was one of the first wall fireplaces, although they hadn't come up with the concept of chimneys yet. With this new type of fireplace, smoke was allowed to escape through a couple of holes in the side of the building.

Previously, fires were burned in the center of the room and the room would just fill with smoke until the smoke eventually found its escape through holes in the roof.

t the heart of the Tower of London is the White Tower. It is the oldest part of the Tower, built to strike fear and submission into the unruly citizens of London.
- See more at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/WhiteTower#sthash.OePOU3Fr.dpuf

At the heart of the Tower of London is the White Tower. It is the oldest part of the Tower, built to strike fear and submission into the unruly citizens of London.
- See more at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/WhiteTower#sthash.OePOU3Fr.dpuf

At the heart of the Tower of London is the White Tower. It is the oldest part of the Tower, built to strike fear and submission into the unruly citizens of London.
- See more at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/WhiteTower#sthash.OePOU3Fr.dpuf

From Palace to Prison:The Tower of London...Day 5c

Early in its existence, the Tower of London was a grand palace and not a prison. It was built by William the Conqueror in the late eleventh century on the northern bank of the Thames River in the central part of London and served as a reminder to the population that they were a conquered people.

 Heavily defended with a double ring of walls and a moat, it was designed to serve as a defensive fortress for the royal family as well as royal residence. In fact, the official name of the complex is Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress. (I am assuming in times of a male sovereign, the place would be known as HIS Majesty's Royal etc, etc.)

 But time marched on and due to its location and general good defenses, the palace became more of a prison and less of a palace. Especially during the 16 and 17th centuries, the monarchs became increasingly insecure about their reigns and took to banishing people who had fallen into disgrace and imprisoning them in the Tower of London as it was in a handy location and the security was second to none. And, of course, there was the ever-useful, aptly named Traitor's Gate so prisoners could be delivered by boat directly (and sneakily).

It was also a a really safe place to house people who were soon to be crowned. It became a tradition for Kings and Queens-to-be to spend their last few days before their coronation in the Tower palace and then make their way to Westminster Abbey for the ceremony.

 

And about this time it also became somewhat of a tradition for King Henry the VIII to store his discarded queens there while they awaited the results of their trials for treason, adultery or the mere failure to produce a male heir.  Although in our more enlightened age, we know it could very well have been just as much his fault as hers.
 

                                        The Tower of London, view from the west...

The Tower "Blocks"...Day 5b

Although the Tower of London was next to the Tower Bridge, it was going to be quite a hike (several blocks) (hence the title of this post) to arrive at the actual entrance so we  stopped at a convenient Starbucks to fortify ourselves for the hike. Actually, we just needed access to the internet so we grabbed some coffee or tea or juice or pastries in order to justify our presence in the coffee shop. And actually it wasn't just any Starbucks but a Starbucks nestled at the foot of a swanky 4 star hotel. Nice.  (a 4 star hotel is swanky, right?) The name of the hotel was (what else) the Tower Hotel. Looking out the window we could see St. Katherine's Dock, the Thames River and, of course, the Tower Bridge. And we all very much enjoyed our coffee, tea, juice and/or pastries. And did what we had to do on the internet...

The Tower side of the Thames River. I am not quite sure what the significance of the cannons was. Although you can be sure that if we were a group of males, we would  be able to answer that question and any other questions that might arise about ballistics, range, when they were used, whether they were moved on caissons or if they were stationary munitions. However, being females, we were satisfied just knowing they were cannons. And then we moved on to the next important thing...which was taking pictures of each other.

                                              

                                                                          

                    The sun shares its glory with Rachel. Not sure which one is more radiant...

                                                                             

                                                 Sara, beautiful Sara, looking like a model
 

                                                                   Heather and Sara
      (I don't why sweet Heather didn't rate a solo picture. She is just so lovely and undemanding.)
           (she also has an endearing motherly way about her...and an alarming sense of humor)

                                                       Me, the quintessential tourist
            raincoat, warm sweater, camera in hand and London pass hanging around my neck
                                           Obviously, I didn't care if I looked like a tourist.

                                           These girls, on the other hand, were stylin' all the way.

                                   From Bridge to Tower, we walked on this cobblestone road.

                                                   

Traitor's Gate from the outside wall. Back in the day, the wall was right next to the river and boats were able to row right up to and then through the Traitor's Gate.
                                         More about this later...

                   

                                                    Pansies, sweet and fresh as spring (or fall)

                                      The first one of many Tower of London souvenir shops...
They wanted to make sure that we didn't miss the chance to get raven keychains or beefeater teddy bears or pretend crowns or Tower of London souvenir spoons or chopping block pencil sharpeners... 
                                                       (sorry for the gallows humor)

                              Group tour of the complex with tour guide in full beefeater regalia. 

   Trebuchet...otherwise known as a catapult. It was just outside the walls of the complex. Too bad they didn't have a demonstration...that would have been pretty cool. If we were guys...which we weren't. So I took a picture...and we moved on to more important things...like taking pictures of each other...