Tower Siege Campaign

Lore & Background

The Tower of London was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. It has served as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of England. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II in the 17th century, the monarch would traditionally prepare for several nights at the Tower and lead a procession to Westminster Abbey for their coronation. In the late 15th century, the Princes in the Tower were housed at the castle when they mysteriously disappeared, presumed murdered. Under the Tudors, the Tower was used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle, its defences lagged behind developments to deal with artillery. The zenith of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when figures such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Elizabeth Throckmorton were held within its walls. This use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower". Despite its reputation, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the world wars of the 20th century; executions were more commonly held on Tower Hill, with 112 occurring there over a 400-year period. In the latter half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony Salvin and John Taylor restored the Tower to what was felt to be its medieval appearance. In the First and Second World Wars, the Tower was again used as a prison and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired, and the castle reopened to the public. Today, the Tower of London is the country's ninth most popular tourist attraction, with 2,817,852 visitors in 2025. Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, operated by the Resident Governor of the Tower of London and Keeper of the Jewel House, and guarded by the Yeomen Warders, the property is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site.

In Their Own Story

The Tower's strongest and most impressive defences overlooked Saxon London, which archaeologist Alan Vince suggests was deliberate. It would have visually dominated the surrounding area and stood out to traffic on the River Thames. The castle is made up of three wards: the innermost ward contains the White Tower and is the earliest phase; the inner ward was built during the reign of Richard I (1189–1199); and the outer ward was built under Edward I. Although there were several phases of expansion after William the Conqueror founded the Tower, the general layout has remained the same since Edward I completed his rebuild in 1285. The castle encloses an area of almost 12 acres (4.9 hectares) with a further 6 acres (2.4 ha) around the Tower constituting the Tower Liberties. The precursor of the Liberties was laid out in the 13th century when Henry III ordered that a strip of land adjacent to the castle be kept clear. Despite popular fiction, the Tower never had a permanent torture chamber, although the basement of the White Tower housed a rack in later periods. Tower Wharf was built on the bank of the Thames under Edward I and was expanded to its current size during the reign of Richard II (1377–1399).

Reader's Guide

The White Tower is a keep, often the strongest structure in a medieval castle, containing lodgings suitable for the king or his representative. According to military historian R. Allen Brown, "The great tower [White Tower] was also, by virtue of its strength, majesty and lordly accommodation, the donjon par excellence". As one of the largest keeps in the Christian world, the White Tower has been described as "the most complete eleventh-century palace in Europe". The White Tower, not including its projecting corner towers, measures 36 by 32 metres (118 by 105 ft) at the base, and is 27 m (90 ft) high at the southern battlements. The structure was originally three storeys high, with a basement, an entrance level above, and an upper floor. The entrance was above ground on the south face, accessed via a wooden staircase that could be removed in the event of an attack. It was probably during Henry II's reign (1154–1189) that a forebuilding was added to the south side, but it has not survived. Each floor was divided into three chambers: the largest in the west, a smaller room in the north-east, and the chapel taking up the entrance and upper floors of the south-east. At the western corners are square towers, while to the north-east a round tower houses a spiral staircase. At the south-east corner is a larger semi-circular projection accommodating the apse of the chapel. Latrines were built into the walls, and four fireplaces provided warmth. The main building material is Kentish ragstone, with some local mudstone. Caen stone was imported from northern France for details, though little original survives as it was replaced with Portland stone in the 17th and 18th centuries. Reigate stone was also used. Only two original windows remain, in the south wall at the gallery level. The tower was terraced into a mound, so the northern side of the basement is partially below ground. The bottom floor was an undercroft for storage, with one room containing a well. The interior of the basement dates mostly from the 18th century when the floor was lowered and timber vaults replaced with brick. The entrance floor was probably intended for the Constable, Lieutenant, and other officials. The south entrance was blocked during the 17th century and not reopened until 1973. The crypt of St John's Chapel occupied the south-east corner, with a recess in the north wall that Geoffrey Parnell, Keeper of the Tower History at the Royal Armouries, suggests "was designed as a strong-room for safekeeping of royal treasures and important documents". The upper floor contained a grand hall in the west and residential chamber in the east, both originally open to the roof with a gallery built into the wall, and St John's Chapel in the south-east. The top floor was added in the 15th century, along with the present roof. St John's Chapel was not part of the original design; the apsidal projection was built after the basement walls. Except for the chapel, little is left of the original interior. The chapel's current bare and unadorned appearance is reminiscent of the Norman period. In the 13th century, during Henry III's reign, the chapel was decorated with a gold-painted cross and stained glass windows depicting the Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity. The innermost ward encloses an area immediately south of the White Tower, stretching to what was once the edge of the River Thames. As at other castles like the 11th-century Hen Domen, the innermost ward was probably filled with timber buildings from the Tower's foundation. Exactly when royal lodgings began to encroach from the White Tower into the innermost ward is uncertain, though it had happened by the 1170s. The lodgings were renovated and elaborated during the 1220s and 1230s, becoming comparable with other palatial residences such as Windsor Castle.

Did You Know?

• The Tower of London was founded toward the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest.
• The White Tower was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was initially a resented symbol of oppression.
• Only seven people were executed within the Tower before the world wars of the 20th century; 112 executions occurred on Tower Hill over 400 years.
• The Tower of London had 2,817,852 visitors in 2025, making it the country's ninth most popular tourist attraction.
• Despite popular fiction, the Tower of London never had a permanent torture chamber, though the basement of the White Tower housed a rack in later periods.