The Thames, the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London / sketch Robert Trudeau
Originally uploaded by trudeau
The White Tower (in the center) was the royal residence for several centuries. It was also, beginning about 1100, a prison.
As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries, says Wikipedia.
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