Echoes of Britain

Echoes of Britain: The Tower of London: Crown, Stone and Blooda medieval palace, royal prison, treasury, armoury, mint, menagerie, home of the Crown Jewels, and a Echoes of Britain: The Tower of London tells the dramatic story of one of Britain’s most famous and formidable landmarks, from William the Conqueror’s great Norman fortress beside the Thames to medieval palace, royal prison, treasury, armoury, mint, menagerie, home of the Crown Jewels and living ceremonial monument.This is a history book first and foremost, written in an accessible, vivid style for readers who want more than a quick tour of famous names and grisly legends. It explores how the Tower was built, why it mattered, how it shaped the relationship between monarchs and London, and why its stones became so closely associated with royal power, imprisonment, ceremony and fear.Inside, you will discover the fortress behind the myths: the White Tower rising as a Norman warning to the city, the layered defences of the Inner and Outer Wards, the palace chambers where kings and queens once stayed, the prison rooms that held nobles, bishops, traitors and rivals to the Crown, and the rituals that still keep the Tower alive today.Along the way, you will also find the stranger details that make the Tower’s history so memorable:• A polar bear once kept at the Tower was allowed to fish in the Thames on a long tether.• The Tower was home to a royal menagerie containing lions, leopards, an elephant and other exotic animals.• The famous Crown Jewels kept there today are not the original medieval regalia, which were destroyed after the execution of Charles I. From the Princes in the Tower and Anne Boleyn to Traitors’ Gate, the ravens, the Ceremony of the Keys and the glittering Crown Jewels, Echoes of Britain: The Tower of London uncovers a fortress that is far more than a prison. It is a place where nearly a thousand years of British history gather in stone, legend and ceremony beside the river.