![]() ![]() 1190-1200) was added to the southwest corner of the curtain wall, a tidal moat was dug (50 metres / 160 ft. In the 12th century, the massive polygonal Bell Tower (c. 1509-1547), and many of them made important additions and improvements over the centuries. Three stained glass windows showing the Virgin and Christ child were added around 1240.Įnglish monarchs used the tower as an occasional residence up to and including Henry VIII (r. Inside, the chapel has an arcade of thick arch-bearing columns, a barrel vault ceiling and a gallery running around the sides. The tower had a sloping roof on either side of the cross-wall, and the top floor contained the chapel of Saint John the Baptist its apse gives the tower its curved eastern corner. Chambers, toilets, fireplaces, chimneys, and drains were cut into the tower's thick walls. A spiral staircase gave access to the upper floors, and a basement, likely used for storage, had access to a well. It is not clear what these chambers were used for, and there is no record of William ever staying in the castle so perhaps it was originally intended as a showpiece of Norman power. The first floor and the second were divided into unequally sized halls by a central cross-wall. Access was via a wooden staircase on the south side that reached to the first floor - this was protected by a short tower in the 12th century (destroyed in 1674). The tower measures 36 x 32.5 metres (118 x 106 ft.) and is 27.5 metres (90 ft.) tall. ![]() The castle was rather more than the White Tower, though, as it was surrounded by a curtain wall with corner towers. ![]()
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