Secrets of the Tower of London

[Webb]

Sunday on PBS

Preview

Standing guard over the city of London for nearly 1,000 years, the formidable Tower of London has been a royal castle, a prison, a place of execution and torture, an armory and the Royal Mint. This program unlocks the doors to secret rooms, talks to the people who do the jobs no one sees and reveals some surprising facts about one of England’s most famous icons.



"Tower" seems to be one of those words that have different meanings in England and America.

[Hagar]

The preview is unfortunately not available in my area.

"Tower" seems to be one of those words that have different meanings in England and America.

I don't think there's any significant difference. The noun Tower means "A building or part of a building that is exceptionally high in proportion to its width and length." The Tower of London is named after the original White Tower which was the keep of the Norman castle. Other towers & courtyards were added at various times during its history.

Copied from Wiki. "Most of the early Norman castles were built from timber, but by the end of the 11th century a few, including the Tower of London, had been renovated or replaced with stone. Work on the White Tower – which gives the whole castle its name – is usually considered to have begun in 1078, however the exact date is uncertain. William made Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, responsible for its construction, although it may not have been completed until after William's death in 1087. The White Tower is the earliest stone keep in England, and was the strongest point of the early castle. It also contained grand accommodation for the king. At the latest, it was probably finished by 1100 when Bishop Ranulf Flambard was imprisoned there.

In the 13th century, Kings Henry III (1216–1272) and Edward I (1272–1307) extended the castle, essentially creating it as it stands today."

[Webb]

It's a joke.

No one in America would call a three story (or storey) building a tower.

[Mictheslik]

I should imagine there weren't many buildings that tall in America when it was built almost a thousand years ago....

.mic

[Webb]

Yes, the French built things in your country long before they built things in mine.

[PhantomTweak]

Actually, the Mayans, Aztec, Toltec and so on on back thru history were pretty decent tall builders...Just saying!

Great evening to all!

Pat~

[Mictheslik]

Yes, the French built things in your country long before they built things in mine.

Indeed, but what I'm hinting at is that it's very easy to see things anachronistically. By the 2013 definition of tower it probably isn't a tower, but by the 1100 definition it probably was. Once it got its name that was what it was always known by.

.mic

[Webb]

Executions at the Tower of London

One of the early ones was Anne Boleyn, wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I.

The last one was Josef Jakobs, a Nazi spy. Jakobs was shot by a military firing squad.

LD/SR A(s) 1 MOST SECRET

To: The Constable of H.M. Tower of London. 13th August 1941.

Sir,

I have the honour to acquaint you that JOSEF JAKOBS, an enemy alien, has been found guilty of an offence against the Treachery Act 1940 and has been sentenced to suffer death by being shot.

The said enemy alien has been attached to the Holding Battalion, Scots Guards for the purpose of punishment and the execution has been fixed to take place at H.M. Tower of London on Friday the 15th August 1941 at 7.15am.

Sgd. Sir Bertram N. Sergison-Brooke,

Lieutenant-General Commanding London District.