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Tower of London— once a fortress, a royal residence, a court of justice, and a prison, is now a government storehouse and armoury, and an interesting show place for visitors. The most conspicuous part of the series of buildings enclosed by the moat is the White Tower, whose founder, tradition has it, was Julius Caesar. William the Conqueror was the authentic builder of the structure, which was subsequently improved upon by Henry III. Inside is the chapel of St. John, the most perfect specimen of Norman architecture in the kingdom. Surrounding the White Tower is a series of battlements now used for government purposes, flanked by a number of smaller towers, many of which are celebrated for the captives who have been imprisoned in them. For instance, in the Well Tower Queen Elizabeth was immured; in the Devereux Tower the Earl of Essex was confined; and in the White Tower Sir Walter Raleigh. In the Bloody Tower the two Sons of Edward IV. were murdered; and in Bowyer’s Tower Clarence is supposed to have been drowned in a butt of malmsey wine. The Beauchamp Tower was built probably by Henry III. The last executions took place after the rebellion of 1745, when Lords Lovat, Balmerino, and Kilmarnock were beheaded for high treason. The latest occupants of the Tower as state prisoners were Sir Francis Burdett, and the gang of ruffians known as the Cato-street Conspirators. The regalia or jewel-house is a show place, and contains the royal crowns and sceptres and other jewels, whilst in the armoury is as magnificent a collection of armour and weapons as there is extant. A gun outside the White Tower is worth notice. It is nearly eighteen feet long, and was cast by the Sultan Solyman the Magnificent for his intended invasion of India. The Tower is open free to the public on Mondays and Saturdays. On other days a fee of a shilling will pass the visitor to the regalia, the armoury, the Beauchamp Tower, and other points of interest. NEAREST Railway Stations, Aldgate (Metrop.) and Cannon-street (S. E.); Omnibus Routes, Fenchurch-street and Aldgate High-street; Cab Rank, Great Tower Street.  

Charles Dickens (Jr.), Dickens's Dictionary of London, 1879