It has been the seat of British government and the living quarters of monarchs.. the sight of renown political intrigue, and the repository of the Crown Jewels...it has housed lions, bears, and (to this day) flightless ravens... not to mention notorious traitors and framed members of court, lords and ministers, clergymen and knights.
The Tower of London is the oldest palace, fortress and prison in Europe. The great fortress was created by William the Conqueror.
The site he chose was the same one on which Claudius, the Roman Emperor, had built a fort more than a thousand years earlier; traces of the Roman wall can still be seen in the Tower.
As king succeeded king the fortress was enlarged by building walls and smaller towers around the central keep. Towards the end of the twelfth century Richard I added to its might by encircling it with a moat fed by the River Thames.The moat was drained in 1830 whereupon many human bones were found.
