London Sights: The Tower and the Crown Jewels - Jesper en Bastian

The Tower & the Crown Jewels

The tower of London

The Tower of London is also known as The Tower. In 1078 William the Qonqeurer gave orders to build the White Tower. It had to be a big building because it had to serve as a defense against the Normandic attackers. The building got it’s name thanks to the white chalkstone that the building is made of. The building is located at the Thames. After king William, king Richard Lionhearted gave the orders to build a cannel around the fort. Later, a king gave orders to build other walls around the fort and now a day the fort is surrounded by a bigger castle and people started to call it “The Tower”.

The “Tower Bridge”, is located nearby the complex and has his name thanks to the The Tower of Londen. The complex is very old and since 1988 its placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Tower of London is managed by the “Constable of the tower”, that person is often a high positioned soldier. He is the manager of the building and the staff that is included. He is also the protector of “the Crown Jewels”. He is manager for a period of 5 years.

The Crown Jewels

The full name is, the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The original name, the Crown Jewels of England. The jewels are historical an royal objects. The kings and queens wear them at their coronations. The whole collection consists of 140 objects. A few roles have their own object, head of state, supreme governor of the church of England. Since 1831 a new crown has been made specially for each kings wive. The whole collection consists of 23.578 beatyfull stones. The largest in the collection and in the world is clear cut 530 carats (106 g). That stone is placed in the Sovereigns Sceptre with cross.

Many pieces are fallen out of use, some are even designed to use only one time. When the jewels are not in use they are displayed in the Jewel House, a fault at the Tower of London. They attrack 2.5 million tourists every year. The centrepiece of the whole collection is St Edward’s Crown.

The jewels are not insured and because they are not ment to bo sold they are officially priceless.