Finished 19 years later, it stood nearly 100 feet tall. Its walls were up to 15 feet thick. To make room for his chief buildings he removed two bastions of the old wall of London, and encroached slightly upon the civic boundaries.
A wide ditch and the Thames Rover protected the fort from attack. The tower at a early period was used as a place of confinement for offenders against the state. In 1100, soon after the death of William Rufus, Ranulph Flambard, bishop of Durham was imprisoned there by order of King Henry the First.
In 1240, King Henry III turned the fort into his royal palace. After the king had it painted white, it was known as the White Tower.
It was tradition for future kings and queens to spend a night in the tower before their coronation. Over time many other buildings and towers were added to the Tower.
For hundred years, the Tower of London controlled London. As London grew, the Tower grew as well. It became one of the biggest castles in Europe.
The present buildings are partly of the Norman period, but architecture of almost all the styles which have flourished in England may be found with the walls.
Tower of London
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