The Tower - Palace and Prison

The Tower of London
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Originally built in 1078, and being constantly extended and rebuilt until 1399. The Tower of London is one of the most iconic historic buildings in the UK and millions of people all over the world come to visit it every year to take a look at the Royal Armouries and the Crown Jewels. 

Throughout the grounds you can visit most of the building learning the many different stages of the fortification, and the Royal palace living courtiers. Each section has the history about the building and some related artefacts displayed there.  

The main building is obviously the most iconic of the whole palace complex is the White Tower. With-in the building you will find the Royal Armouries and their long term display of the Line of Kings and their weaponry displays. 

Henry VIII armour in the
Line of Kings display.

The Line of Kings display was established in 1660 after the restoration of the monarchy in England. The exhibition was to promote the King's right to rule. 

As there aren't examples of armour for every monarch. They only displayed armour they had to hand and just added the names and dates to each descriptions. The display originally only displayed the good kings such as, William the Conqueror; no bad king was displayed but only later on they started to appear. This 17th Century propaganda was to show a continues link of good and great kings to strengthen the king's right to the crown, after such a uneasy reputation after the civil war. 

The collection was rearranged and dispersed over the years. The display today has be reassembled to showcase the history of the English monarchy and is the worlds longest visitor attraction. 

Also displayed in the White Tower is the long history of how the Royal Palace was also used in its later years as a prison and a place of execution and the history of weaponry.

The most visited attraction of the Tower is the Crown Jewels. The role of the Tower for many years was to protect the treasures of the monarchy. Even though the coronation tradition as been used for the past 1000 years, the jewels in the Tower today are quite modern. Most of the jewels in Jewel House were made in the late 1600s, the jewels before that were destroyed after the brief removal of the monarchy. 

So this is a great place to learn about the buildings and the Monarchy through the Royal Armoury and the Crown Jewels.