History - The tower of London

Big Ben: The biggest bell for 23 years in the UK, Big Ben is an iconic London landmark. It was built in 1859. 

Houses of Parliament: The hall was built in 1097 under William II and the hall survives in almost it's complete form which makes it around 940 years old. The hall was the largest in England, and probably Europe, at that time. 

Tower of London: This is the outside with a beautiful wildflower garden. Originally it was a defensive wall built by the Romans in AD:200. This isn't the original wall as much of that was destroyed in the 1800's. 

Building work started in the 1070's by William the Conqueror. It took twenty years to build and was a display of power. The stone was imported from France but most of the work was completed by the English. 

Henry III and Edward I expanded the fortress. The above photo is an example of Tudor building and decoration. The beams are very distinctive and can be seen a lot in Knaresborough and York too. 

Traitors gate: This is an entrance that prisoners would be brought to when they were taken as prisoners. 

The tower has a mix of older/newer sections throughout. 

This is a memorial and it is placed in the area where the scaffold would have been built. 

This is a section of graffiti thought to have been carved by a supporter of Anne Boleyn. 

                                                   

There is a lot of intricate graffiti carved by many people who died here, but not many people overall were killed or tortured here. It was viewed as an honour to be killed here (only the richest and most senior people were allowed to be beheaded at the tower). 

St Peters chapel: The Chapel is probably best known as the burial place of some of the most famous prisoners killed at the Tower, Queen Anne Boleyn, Queen Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey.

 The tower of London has sculptures of animals such as Lions, Monkeys and in this picture an elephant. The Tower of London was the first zoo in England dating from the 1200's. A lot of animals died but lions did well and had lots of cubs. 

White Tower: The basement of the White Tower is traditionally thought to be the site of the torture and interrogation of prisoners such as Guy Fawkes.

Tower Bridge: Tower Bridge took 8 years to be built and was constructed between 1886 and 1894. It has been in use for 125 years and is lifted about 800 times each year.

The Tower is essentially a town, and is built in concentric circles. This is a defensive strategy. 

St. Pancras station: St Pancras station was built between 1851 and 1852. It was opened in 1868 along with the former midland hotel.

 This is a picture of Kings cross stations architecture which I personally think is very different or unique when comparing it to other train stations you will see.