Spring Breakdown #londondaytwo

Day two was all about the Tower of London and Greenwich, but before that we hit up Horizon 22, the highest free viewing gallery at 254m in both the UK and Europe.  The building stands 278m (912 ft) tall with 62 storeys, and is the second tallest building in the UK after The Shard. The viewing platform, as part of the planning permission conditions, has to offer free tickets to its 58th floor, I would totally recommend a booking and seeing the city from above. I imagine at sunset and in the evening it would be even more stunning.

The Monument was built 1671-1677 on the site of St Margaret, Fish Street Hill to commemorate the Great Fire of London 1666.  The fire burnt from 2nd to 5th September, devastating two thirds of the city, destroying 13,200 houses, 87 churches, and 52 livery company halls.

The Monument, a free-standing, fluted, Doric columm topped by a flaming copper urn, is 61m / 202feet high, being equal to the distance westward from teh site of the bakery in Pudding Lane where the fire broke out.  It's central shaft originally housed lenses for a zenith telescope and its balcony reached by an internal spiral staircase of 311 steps affords panoramic views of the city.

The Tower of London was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Normal Conquest.  The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conquerer in 1078 and was initially a resented symbol of opression, inflicted upon London by the new Norman ruling class.  The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 to 1952, although that was not its primary purpose, which was as a grand palace, serving as a royal residence.  As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moats.  There were several phases of expansion under kings Richard I, Henry III and Edward I, and the general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.

The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history - it has served as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal mint, a public record office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of England.  In the late 15th century, the Princes in the Tower were houses at the castle when they mysteriously disappeared, presumed murdered.  Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and by the 16th and 17th centuries was more often used as a prison. 

Now the Tower is a World Heritage Site and protected by the Yeoman Warders.

Henry III's water gate

Wall of the former Innermost Ward

Queen's House

Former scaffold site - now a memorial

The White Tower

Waterlook Block - protecting the Crown Jewels

Lunch with a view

Greenwich became the site of a royal palace, the Palace of Placentia, from the 15th century, and was the birthplace of many Tudors, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.  The palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War and was demolished, eventually being replaced by the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors.  These buildings because the Royal Naval College in 1873, and they remained a military education establishment until 1998.

Greenwich Park rises from the former Naval College towards the former Royal Observatory Greenwich, through which the Primare Meridian passes.  Greenwich Mean Time was at one time based on the time observations made at the observatory, before being superseded by the closely related Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).  While there is no longer a working astronomical observatory at Greenwich, a ball still drops daily to mark the exact moment of 1pm.

Third Astronomer Royal James Bradley (1692-1762) set up a telescope and defined a new meridian.  In 1801 this meridian was used by the national mapping agency Ordnance Survey was longitude 0 degrees.  It still defines their maps today, though the actual meridian line has changed.  

Two days done.