Description: Historically the Tower is the most important building in England and the most visited of London's attractions. It was a stronghold which was many times besieged but never taken; but it was also a royal palace (until the time of James I), a prison (still used during the last war, when one of its inmates was Rudolf Hess), a mint (until the opening of the Royal Mint nearby in 1810), a treasure vault (still containing the Crown Jewels), an observatory (until the establishment of Greenwich Observatory in 1675) and for five centuries (until 1834) a menagerie.The Tower was built by William the Conqueror after the battle of Hastings to protect London, to overawe its citizens and to enable shipping on the Thames to be watched. The original ... More > Tower, built about 1078 and surrounded by a ring of walls with 13 towers, is now known as the White Tower. The fortress was enlarged and strengthened in the 12th century, and again in the 13th and 14th. It was restored in the 19th century.The history of the Tower reflects the history of England. It has been the place of confinement of many historical personages, among them King David II of Scotland (1346-57), King John the Good of France (1356-60), King James I of Scotland (1406-7), Charles, Duke of Orleans (1415), Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth I (1554), Sir Walter Raleigh (1592, 1603-16, 1618) and William Penn (1668-69).Many famous people, too, have been executed or murdered within its walls, including Henry VI (1471), Sir Thomas More (1535), Henry VIII's queens Anne Boleyn (1536) and Catherine Howard (1542), Thomas Cromwell (1540), Jane Gray, the "Nine Days Queen" (1554), and the Duke of Monmouth (1685). The last executions carried out in the Tower took place during the Second World War, when a number of spies were shot here.The Tower, covering roughly some 18 acres in extent, consists of an Outer and an Inner Ward. The Outer Ward is surrounded by a wall with six towers and two bastions, probably built by Edward I in the 14th century, separated from the Inner Ward by a wall with 13 towers dating from Henry III. The entrance to the Tower is at the southwest corner, formerly the site of the Lion Tower, in which the royal menagerie was housed from the 14th century until 1834.< LessHobbies & Activities category: Architecture - Medieval; Towers, monuments, observation deck; Castle, chateau, palace; Historic site; UNESCO World Heritage Site