Tower of London
This grey-white fortress on the north bank of the Thames bears the formal name 'His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London,' begun in 1066 at the close of the Norman Conquest. The White Tower, which gives the whole castle its name, was begun by William the Conqueror in 1078, originally a hated symbol of conquest weighing on the people of London. The castle encloses a cluster of buildings within two concentric defensive walls and a moat, expanded over the reigns of Richard I, Henry III and Edward I, taking roughly its present form by 1285. It has served as armoury, treasury, royal menagerie, royal mint and records office, has imprisoned royal captives, and is home to the Crown Jewels of England—and the real stories lie hidden within these tower gates and walls.
United Kingdom · 48 The overlooked corners inside
The overlooked corners inside
Hospital Block
Among the Tower of London's many towers and walls, this residential building is officially listed by Historic England as a Grade II* (Grade Two Star) listed building. It lacks the fame of the White Tower or Traitors' Gate, yet it shares the same special protection — a quiet fixture in the everyday fabric of the fortress.
Beauchamp Tower
The Beauchamp Tower, set within the Tower of London, is a 13th-century mural tower notable as one of the first large-scale uses of brick as a building material in England after the Romans left in the 5th century. It is one of the 13 towers strung along the inner curtain wall, and the main entrance to the inner ward most likely once stood at the western wall on the site the Beauchamp Tower now occupies. These towers gave flanking fire for defence while also serving as lodgings.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Bloody Tower
The Bloody Tower stands immediately west of the Wakefield Tower and was built at the same time as the inner curtain wall, originally serving as a water gate to allow boats direct access from the Thames into the castle. Its structure was straightforward — a portcullis and a gatehouse controlling river traffic. In the 16th century the tower acquired its grim name through its association with the mysterious disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, and has carried it ever since.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Middle Tower
Middle Tower is the first gatehouse of the Tower of London's outermost defences, standing at the end of the causeway above the moat and linked to Byward Tower by a stone bridge. Built during Edward I's major rebuilding programme (c. 1275–1281) — a project that cost £21,000, the largest military construction in England at the time — it once held a drawbridge and multiple iron portcullises. Every visitor entering the Tower still passes through it today.
Sources: wikidata.org · en.wikipedia.org
Martin Tower
The Martin Tower is one of 13 towers along the inner curtain wall, positioned on the north-east stretch. During the 17th-century reorganisation of the castle, the original Jewel House was demolished and the Crown Jewels were moved here for safekeeping, making the Martin Tower their temporary home.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula
This small church takes its full name — the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula — from the… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Salt Tower
Salt Tower occupies the south-east corner of the Tower's inner curtain wall and is one of… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wonders-of-the-world.net · englishmonarchs.co.uk · wikidata.org
Wakefield Tower
The Wakefield Tower sits at the riverside corner of the innermost ward. What sets it apart… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Wardrobe Tower
Wardrobe Tower is the ruin of a small round tower hugging the south-east corner of the Whi… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wonders-of-the-world.net · wikidata.org
Tower Green
Tower Green is an open square inside the Tower of London, lying to the south of the Chapel… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Waterloo Barracks
Waterloo Barracks is the largest building in the Tower's inner ward, commissioned by the D… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wonders-of-the-world.net · wikidata.org
Traitors' Gate
Traitors' Gate is the water-gate built by Edward I as part of St Thomas's Tower, which als… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Queen's House
Queen's House is one of the few surviving Tudor half-timbered buildings inside the Tower o… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: englishmonarchs.co.uk · wikidata.org
Inner Curtain Wall (including mural towers, Queen's House, Tower Green, Buildings 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and New Armouries)
The inner curtain wall is the core of the Tower of London's concentric defensive system, b… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: historicengland.org.uk · wikidata.org
Bell Tower
The Bell Tower stands at the south-west corner of the Tower of London's inner curtain wall… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Fusilier Museum London
The Fusilier Museum London is housed in an 1845 officers' mess building inside the Tower a… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: hrp.org.uk · wikidata.org
White Tower
The White Tower is the oldest core of the Tower of London, built by William the Conqueror… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Crown Jewels
The Crown Jewels are displayed in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. They are the onl… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Memorial To The Executed
This sculpture by artist Brian Catling was installed on Tower Green in 2006, commissioned… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: modusoperandi-art.com · overpass-api.de
L'Ohio (French bronze cannon)
The cannon named L'Ohio was cast on 7 April 1813 and is one of a row of Napoleonic-era Fre… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: overpass-api.de
L'Achille (French bronze cannon)
L'Achille is one of the row of Napoleonic-era French bronze cannons displayed alongside L'… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: overpass-api.de
Le Geubre (French bronze cannon)
Le Geubre was cast on 18 October 1813 and is one of the few barrels in this display whose… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: overpass-api.de
L'Amérique (French bronze cannon)
L'Amérique was cast on 24 September 1813 and takes its name from the American continent. L… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: overpass-api.de
L'Etonnant (French bronze cannon)
L'Etonnant — meaning 'the astonishing one' — was cast in 1813 and carries the most literar… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: overpass-api.de
Le Cigne (French bronze cannon)
Le Cigne (The Swan) was cast on 14 July 1813 — Bastille Day. The date is almost certainly… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: overpass-api.de
Alexander John Forsyth memorial plaque
This plaque commemorates Scottish minister Alexander John Forsyth (1768–1843), the founder… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: undiscoveredscotland.co.uk · overpass-api.de
Fusiliers Museum
This entrance marks a secondary access point to the Fusiliers Museum — the regimental muse… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wikidata.org · fusiliermuseumlondon.org
Legge's Mount
Legge's Mount is a bastion built by Edward I at the north-west corner of the castle when h… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Lanthorne Tower
Lanthorne Tower was built around 1220–1238, alongside Wakefield Tower, as part of the medi… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: hrp.org.uk · englishmonarchs.co.uk
Broad Arrow Tower
Broad Arrow Tower is one of the thirteen mural towers on the inner curtain wall, built by… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: ancientfortresses.org · en.wikipedia.org
Constable Tower
Constable Tower is one of the thirteen mural towers Henry III built along the inner curtai… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Brick Tower
Brick Tower is one of the mural towers on the inner curtain wall's north section, built in… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · hrp.org.uk
Bowyer Tower
The Bowyer Tower takes its name from its historic function: the royal bowyers once maintai… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Flint Tower
Flint Tower is a low, round mural tower on the north-west section of the inner curtain wal… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wonders-of-the-world.net · en.wikipedia.org
Devereux Tower
Devereux Tower holds the north-west angle of the inner curtain wall and was built by Henry… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: englishmonarchs.co.uk · stonespecialist.com
Ravens Enclosure
Ravens Enclosure is the home of the Tower of London's ravens, housed in a cage beside Wake… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Brass Mount
Brass Mount is a bastion at the north-east corner of the outer curtain wall, added after L… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Coldharbour Gate (remains)
Coldharbour Gate was a defensive gatehouse built by Henry III shortly after 1230; what sur… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wonders-of-the-world.net · wikidata.org
St John's Chapel
St John's Chapel, dedicated to St John the Evangelist and built in 1080, is the oldest and… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Innermost Ward
The Innermost Ward lies directly south of the White Tower and stretches to the Thames rive… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Inner Ward
The Inner Ward took shape during the reign of Richard I (the Lionheart), when the moat was… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Byward Tower
Byward Tower is the main gatehouse of the Tower of London's outer curtain wall, built by H… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · englishmonarchs.co.uk
Cradle Tower
The Cradle Tower was built between 1348 and 1355 as a second water gate immediately east o… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Develin Tower
Develin Tower is the rectangular projecting tower at the south-east corner of the outer cu… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: wonders-of-the-world.net
Lanthorn Tower
The Lanthorn Tower was begun alongside the Wakefield Tower around 1220, placed at the east… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
New Armouries
The New Armouries were built in 1663 at a cost of over £4,000, serving as a new munitions… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
North Bastion
North Bastion is a nineteenth-century addition along the outer curtain wall's north side… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
St Thomas's Tower
St Thomas's Tower was built by Edward I between 1275 and 1279 on the new wall he construct… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
FAQ
What overlooked corners are worth seeing inside Tower of London?
Hospital Block, Beauchamp Tower, Bloody Tower and more — 48 spots in all, each with sources and a guide in your language to read or listen to on the spot.
Is the Tower of London guide free?
The first 5 spots are free to read; the other 43 unlock with a one-time purchase (not a subscription).