The White Tower

A view of the north-west corner of the White Tower

When I first visited the White Tower as a child, I remember it for its collection of armour and not as a magnificent example of a castle keep and, having already spent spent more than two hours exploring the building stones in the rest of the Tower of London, I only briefly examined its fabric – preferring once again to marvel at the Royal Armouries.

A view of the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London

Looking at the window reveals, various passages, archways and spiral staircases, the vast thickness of the walls impressed me and I saw plenty of Kentish ragstone, squared dressings that I assumed were Reigate stone and the occasional block of pale limestone, which was probably Caen stone; however, much of the masonry was blackened and the light levels were low and so I did not attempt a close examination of any of these.

Various walls and arches in the White Tower

The biggest surprise for me was the discovery of the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist, which could be described as a perfect Norman church in its own right. Having investigated numerous mediaeval churches with Norman architectural features - in and around South Yorkshire -  during the previous 9 months, I was quite stunned to see this in front of me.

Spiral staircases

Obviously, this provided the best example of Caen limestone at the Tower of the London that I would see but, when raising my camera in preparation for taking a few quick snaps, a young man - dressed in a very official looking old fashioned uniform - jumped out of the shadows to tell me authoritatively that I wasn't allowed to take any photographs.

The Chapel of St. John The Evangelist

Not to be deterred, and after wandering in and out of the shadows myself, I took a single photo for the record and then proceeded to very quickly work my way through the rest of the White Tower. After a productive afternoon, I ended my trip to the Tower of London by spending less than 10 minutes  to take a few quick snaps in the Beauchamp Tower.

A mythical beast in the White Tower