The Tower of London
Short History Of...
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The White Tower
By 1100, three years after William's death, construction of what will eventually be known as the White Tower is completed. It is a blocky, rectangular structure with battlements topped with their regular teeth-like detail known as Crenlation and rising 90 feet high. At each corner, a tower stands a little proud of the walls, rectangular-based except the northeastern turret which is rounded in keeping with most Norman fortresses. Though the stone edifice has only just begun its life as a palace, it won't be long before it receives its first prisoner. When William II dies in a hunting accident, his younger brother becomes Henry I. After just 16 days on the throne, Henry arrests
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