England - London and Bath

Since the reign of King John starting in 1199, monarchs kept exotic beasts at the Tower of London. They were gifts from foreign rulers. In 1622 James 1 had platforms built so everyone could see the animals fighting (left photo). Eventually this became impractical and the animals were moved to the Royal Zoo. This was once a large medieval Gate Tower into the city (top right). By 1281 Edward 1 had completed the Tower of London's formidable new land entrance consisting of 2 huge towers, a semicircular barbican, drawbridge and moat. Not all of that remains today but you can imagine how impressive it would have been to visitors to this castle (bottom right)