The Thames, the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London / sketch Robert Trudeau, a photo by trudeau on Flickr.
The British Isles map -
- England
- Wales
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
- Ireland (Eire)
- France
- Belgium
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- Nord ee
- English Channel (La Manche)
- Atlantic
- London
- Stonehenge site
- Loch Ness
- Edinburgh (golf)
- Belfast (Titanic)
- Welsh / English castles
- Celts: the tribal peoples of Western Europe.
Tower of London - Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more
commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the
north bank of the River Thames in central London, England.
Says Wikipedia, It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the
Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire
castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a
resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling
elite.
The castle was used as a prison since at least 1100, although that was
not its primary purpose.
A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence.
As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two
concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat.
The first bridge over the Thames was buikt by the Romans about AD 50,
or some 2000 years ago, says Wikipedia.
The King John version of the bridge completed in 1209. He licensed the
building of houses on the bridge, as a direct means of deriving
revenue for its maintenance, and it was soon colonised by shops.
The medieval bridge had 19 small arches and a drawbridge with a
defensive gatehouse at the southern end. Contemporary pictures show it
crowded with buildings of up to seven stories in height.
The buildings slowed down the traffic crossing the river. The houses
and shops took up space and could draw crowds, and when carts broke
down or animals misbehaved, crossing the bridge could take up to an
hour. For this reason, people on foot often chose to use the dozens of
river taxi boats that quickly ferried Londoners from shore to shore.
Nearly 200 places of business lined both sides of the narrow street.
Besides his six marriages, Henry VIII is known for his role in the
separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church,
says Wikipedia.
Henry's struggles with Rome led to the separation of the Church of
England from papal authority, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and
establishing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England.
Henry was known by some to be an attractive and charismatic man in his
prime, educated and accomplished.[4] He was an author and a composer.
He ruled with absolute power.
His desire to provide England with a male heir—which stemmed partly
from personal vanity and partly because he believed a daughter would
be unable to consolidate the Tudor Dynasty and the fragile peace that
existed following the Wars of the Roses[5]—led to the two things that
Henry is remembered for: his wives, and the English Reformation that
made England a mostly Protestant nation. In later life he became
morbidly obese and his health suffered; his public image is frequently
depicted as one of a lustful, egotistical, harsh, and insecure
king.[6]
