William the Conquerer Builds a Castle
Following his conquest of England in late 1066, William I decided to create three large strongholds to help enforce his hold on the throne, both militarily – by creating secure bases for himself, his soldiers and his government – and politically, the castle being a physical and psychological reminder, indeed a manifestation, of William’s power. Construction started that very winter. As the largest and most powerful city in England, London was an obvious place for a castle and William, or his staff, decided to put their stronghold within the south-east angle of the old roman defences. Specifically, the corner where the old city wall met the old river wall.The practice of founding castles on sturdy Roman remains was common, for it combined the benefits of an existing base-structure at a tactical strongpoint with the glory gained from associating with Roman Emperors. However, William's London stronghold differed from the classic motte and bailey design of the period. There was certainly a bailey, an enclosure of one and a quarter acres comprised partly of the Roman fortifications and partly of a new ditch reinforced with a rampart and stockade. There was also the usual collection of buildings – stables, stores, 'offices' - sheltered inside the defences, but the bailey covered a much smaller area than normal and there was no motte, the artificial mound or natural hill that was usually inside the bailey, and which usually carried a tower. These irregularities were almost certainly due to the Norman builders adapting their ideas to fit into the Roman walls. Whatever Saxon defences had been in the area were wholly ignored.
William Orders a Tower
The tower site retained this relatively simple form until 1077, when William instructed Gundulf, a bishop with past experiences of masonry, to begin work on a new stone tower within the bailey. Derived in form and architecture from the donjons of Normandy, the tower was to stand over twenty-seven metres tall, with a base of thirty-two by thirty-six metres. Unprecedented in size for England, this masonry behemoth brought stone castles to a country that had relied on wood for most non-ecclesiastical buildings since the Roman era.Commentators frequently note how such an imposing keep would have enhanced William's prestige, and there's no doubt it reflected considerable power and resources - the sheer visual impact of this structure, literally towering above everything around it, would have made a clear statement - but William almost certainly had practical matters in mind too. The king's rule had been tested every few years by rebellions and revolts, albeit mainly in the north, and the Conqueror may have felt from far secure. That William chose to build a massive military structure, rather than a palace, almost certainly reflects the political dangers of England. Indeed, the Tower wasn’t built as a primary royal residence, nor was it built to defend London itself; it was there to defend and support the royal government and provide, if necessary, a safe base for the king.
The Tower is Finally Completed
Construction began in 1078 using Norman masons and local labour, but William died before it was completed. William’s successor, William Rufus, also died without seeing a complete tower despite ruling for thirteen years. This may be because the Tower took many years to build, but equally Rufus may have preferred other projects and let progress and funding slow to a crawl. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle notes in 1097 that a wall was built round the tower; historians presume this to have been a stone one to replace the old timber stockade. Work finally finished early in the reign of Henry I, sometime after 1100 CE. This latter fact has been established using dendrochronology, a process that reveals when timber beams were felled.The Tower is famous for having been both a prison and a place of execution; the history of detention began in 1100 CE with Bishop Ranulf Flambard of Durham, although he escaped with outside assistance in 1101. Official records reveal that only thirty-seven of the many hundreds of prisoners kept at the Tower ever escaped, although several were caught and returned.
