TOWER OF LONDON, THE, an ancient fortress on the east side of the City of London, England, on the north bank of the river Thames. On a slight elevation now called the Tower Hill, well protected by the river and its marshes, and by woods to the north, there was a British stronghold. Tradition, however, pointed to Julius Caesar as the founder of the Tower (Shake speare, Richard I I I., i. and elsewhere), and remains of Roman fortifications have been found beneath the present site. The Tower contains barracks, and is the repository of the re galia. It covers an irregular hexagonal area, and is surrounded by a ditch, formerly fed by the Thames, but now dry. Gardens sur round it on the north and west, and an embankment borders the river on the south. Two lines of fortifications enclose the inner bail, in which is the magnificent White Tower or Keep, flanked by four turrets. This was built by Gundulf, bishop of Rochester, c. 1078. Its exterior was restored by Sir Christopher Wren, but within the Norman work is little altered. Here may be seen a col lection of old armour and instruments of torture, the rooms said to have been Sir Walter Raleigh's prison, and the magnificent Norman chapel of St. John. Among the surrounding buildings are the modern barracks and the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, dating from the early part of the 12th century, but re built in the early 14th and much altered in Tudor times. The Ballium Wall, the inner of the two lines of fortification, is coeval with the keep. Thirteen towers rise from it at intervals, in a chamber of one of which, the Wakefield Tower, the regalia or crown jewels (see CROWN JEWELS) are kept; this room was for merly the oratory, and it is said that it was here that Henry VI. met his death (1471) while at prayers.
The chief entry to the fortress is through the Middle Tower on the west (near which was a menagerie from Norman times until 1834), across the bridge over the moat, and through the Byward Tower. On the south, giving entry from the river through St.
Thomas's Tower and the Bloody Tower, is the famous Traitors' Gate, by which prisoners of high rank were admitted. The chief historical interest of the Tower lies in its association with such prisoners. The Beauchamp Tower was for long the principal place of confinement for captives of rank, but dungeons and other cham bers in various parts of the buildings also have similar associa tions; as, for instance, the Bell Tower with Queen Elizabeth when princess, Bishop Fisher, and Sir Thomas More; the Bowyer Tower with the duke of Clarence of the butt of Malmsey legend; the Salt Tower and Broad Arrow Tower with Roman Catholic pris oners of Elizabeth's time, and the Martin Tower with Colonel Blood who, in 1671, nearly succeeded in carrying off the crown and regalia, which were then kept there.
Executions took place both within the Tower and on Tower Hill. Many of those executed were buried in the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, such as Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII.'s queens, Anne Boleyn and Katharine Howard, Lady Jane Grey and her husband Dudley and the duke of Monmouth. The Tower was not only a prison from Norman times until the 19th century, but was a royal residence at intervals from the reign of Stephen, if not before. The royal palace was demolished by order of Crom well. The tower is under the governorship of a constable. The attendant staff, the Yeoman Warders of His Majesty's Tower of London, familiarly called "Beef-eaters," still wear Tudor costume.
See W. Hepworth Dixon, Her Majesty's Tower (1869) ; Lord Ron ald Sutherland Gower, The Tower of London (19o1) ; Sir George Younghusband, The Tower from Within (1918), and The Jewel House (1920) ; W. G. Bell, The Tower of London (1921).