1066
Duke William of Normandy and his army
have smashed through southern England
from the coast to the capital
defeating Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings
and securing London in time to be crowned
King William I on Christmas Day.
Fast-forward 30 years
The White Tower looms over London
The biggest and most expensive building
the Capital had ever seen.
Why did the Normans go to such lengths to build it?
Let's get The Scoop
Welcome to The Scoop
The past is a foreign country
and we're invading it
I want to know why the Normans built the White Tower
A scary stone monster that bossed the London skyline
like a game of angry Minecraft
Our detective, Franklin D. Tective is live on the scene
Frank, what have you got for us?
I've got a lot of anxieties is what I've got
I'm looking for historical evidence Frank
What have you been doing this past hour?
I've been snooping around this crazy joint
But look there's modern signs everywhere
There are these windows that have been filled in
so nobody can see out
It's a historical mess
How are we supposed to know
what life was like a thousand years ago?
Were these radiators here?
Did King William come and warm his hands on these
after a fun day out killing Anglo-Saxons?
This is why they fired you from the police department
Isn't it?
It's okay Jez
I've got this
What a relief
Our expert archeologist
Mindiana Bones
Talk to me
What's old and what's new
in this great white shark of a tower?
Well the radiators are not part of the original plan
We know that the foundations
and the footprint of the White Tower
have stayed basically the same since it was built
These have lasted because William
chose the site carefully
It sits on a small hill giving a height advantage
and it's right next to the River Thames
A powerful position because military and trade routes
relied heavily on water transport
Thank you Mindiana,
Our archaeologist bringing some brains to the show
Hey!
So the White Tower has stayed
in basically the same shape and place
for nearly a thousand years
because William fancied its well fit
location, location, location
Let's get more from The Scoop's military historian
Daniella Frost coming live from...
a staircase
Not just any staircase!
This is a military marvel
This is the only top-to-bottom highway
in the whole of the White Tower
Any invaders would have to come single-file
round and round the staircase and then...
Bam!
Intense stab to the face with a Norman sword!
Okay maybe a little less violence for our young-
Look at these high up sentry walkways
where Normans could see trouble from afar
Good, better
and these openings where Norman archers
might have shot at invaders below
with the latest high-tech bows
crushing their internal organs
with sharpened arrowheads to the gut!
Hoo-ah!
Oh boy
Military might was the name of the game
in post-Conquest England
Daniela Frost out
Bish. Bash. Bosh
So the White Tower was
a formidable fearsome fortification
for ferocious fighting
built both for defense
with its narrow snake of a staircase
and for attack by the archers stationed inside
Mindiana was it all about military conquest?
Not entirely.
William didn't even begin to build the Tower
until the 1070s
Perhaps ten years after the Conquest
Yet he still managed
to maintain authority over London without it
This area would have had other fortifications
which were cheaper to build
likely made of wood
Well then why did the Normans build the White Tower
if they were already succeeding in London?
You're no closer than when we were talking to Frank
and he knows nothing
Hey!
Sorry
Actually am I sorry?
Let's go to a special report
from our cultural historian Lucian Dursley
Culture is cool!
I'm in the beautiful Chapel of St. John
built on the White Tower's eastern side
so people coming up the Thames towards London
would see the rounded Chapel wall first and foremost
showing William had money,
taste in the latest expensive Norman architecture
and even the power of God on his side
Hear that Daniella?
Lucian's taken your bows and arrows
and raised you God
Bit annoying, but fair play
God's a bit of a legend
These grand intimidating halls
would look different every time
for banquets, councils and meetings of court
Visitors never knew what they were walking into
Now roll the digital video!
Norman designs were daring and even a bit devious
The White Tower looked like it had three storeys
from the outside
but only had two lower floors indoors
These powerful mind games clearly paid off
in the way people talk about the White Tower
It gets called not just a castle
but 'The Tower' in documents from the early 12th century
using the Latin word 'turris'
and Anglo-Saxon word 'tur'
Oho - too much you are glorious
Well Jez
Just remember culture is cool!
Are you trying out a catchphrase?
If I was trying out a catchphrase
do you think it would catch on?
Absolutely not
So we've looked at different points of view
on why the Normans built the White Tower
Its strategic location
Its military effectiveness
and its psychological and symbolic power
but what do you think of all of this
and how would you answer the question
'Why did the Normans build the White Tower?'
Thanks for watching The Scoop
Turning every mystery into history
Apart from Frank, who's just a total bin
Hey!
Not sorry