Architecture: General Layout

The Tower of London had the strongest and most impressive defences of the period. Probably, it dominated the surrounding area and controlled the traffic of the River Thames.
The castle is made up of three different parts or wards:

• The innermost ward contains the White Tower and is the earliest phase of the castle.
• Surrounding it by the north, east, and west is the inner ward, built during the reign of Richard the Lionheart (1189–1199).
• Finally, there is the outer ward which surrounds the castle and was built under Edward I.

Although there were several phases of expansion, the general layout has remained more or less the same since Edward's rebuild in 1285.

Here you have a wonderful picture in which you can see the layout more in detail.