Almost immediately, the work to replace it with a stone castle was begun. That castle, initially a wooden palisade, was started in late 1066. The statue of of Roman Emperor Trajan, beside it is a reproduction but the wall would have been part of the Roman fortifications that were incorporated into the Tower.
On your way to the Tower from London Underground's Tower Hill Station, look for a large section of London's original Roman wall. The spot he chose to throw up a hastily built fortification was in the southeast corner of London's Roman walls, essentially where the Tower of London now stands. He sent troops ahead to subdue the population and to found a castle. Once he decided to march on London, in December 1066, he approached from Southwark - now the location of Borough Market and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. He took his time, making a circuitous route around the city. Maybe you didn't know that London has a castle too. The Tower of London, one of William's first castles, was completed in his lifetime and still stands beside the Thame s.Īfter William the Conqueror's victory at the Battle of Hastings he didn't march on the capital, London, right away. Windsor Castle - the oldest and biggest inhabited castle in the world, was begun by William. Before the Norman Conquest, Anglo Saxon "castles" were earthworks and ditches, or palisades of pointed sticks surrounding small settlements.Īlmost as soon as he arrived, William began planting garrisons of his soldiers in terrifying stone castles to make sure the locals understood who was in charge now. He brought monasteries - The large, rich and powerful monastic communities eventually so aggravated Henry VIII that he broke them up and gave their riches to his cronies.īut William's most visible innovation - one that can still be seen all over the UK - was the building of castles.Apparently, English speakers who have never taken a French lesson can immediately understand 15,000 French words. He changed our language - About a third of English words come directly from French and another third indirectly (from Latin through French).When William the Conqueror crossed the English Channel to defeat the Anglo Saxons at the Battle of Hasting in 1066, he brought quite a few innovations with him, among them:
But did you know the most British of castles in England, Scotland and Wales were really French inventions? Most visitor itineraries include a castle or two - Britain is crawling with them.
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