The
Tower of London, officially
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic
castle located on the north bank of the
River Thames in
central London. It lies within the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the
City of London by the open space known as
Tower Hill. 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 from 1100 (
Ranulf Flambard) until 1952 (
Kray twins), 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. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings
Richard the Lionheart,
Henry III, and
Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.