The Tower has witnessed a great deal of English history and is the oldest building in London. The White Tower at the heart of the fortifications was built with outer walls over 4 m thick on the orders of William the Conqueror in the 11th century. In the following centuries more walls were added, as were towers, corner bastions and a moat (now dry). Kings and queens languished behind its defiant walls, as did statesmen and members of the clergy, including Ann Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey. The list is long of the famous men and women who were tortured and executed here. One of the many towers, Bloody Tower, even got its name from that. Under this tower there is a gate leading directly to the Thames by which many a corpse was secretly whisked away. The Tower is also home to the red-coated beefeaters (supposedly from the French buffetier) and numerous ravens, whose presence guarantees the continued existence of the empire, as legend has it. Today the Tower is one of the greatest tourist attractions in the country. Its main draws are the British Crown Jewels, a comprehensive collection of weapons, instruments of torture, armour and a whole lot more. The model is one of Matthäus Jerina’s early works (1978) who revolutionized model making at the time by introducing progressive techniques and using the original materials.
