Photograph of the prison vaults underneath the White Tower at the Tower of London. The focal point of the image is a series of whitewashed groin vaults, leading to a small arched wooden door. In the right foreground there is a pile of wooden trestles, stored in an alcove.

Prisoners were tortured and detained here. Notable prisoners include Ranulf Flambard, the Bishop of Durham who was imprisoned here in 1100 by Henry I; John the Good, a French king imprisoned in 1360; the Duke Charles of Orleans who was captured at the Battle of Agincourt and imprisoned in 1415 and Guy Fawkes who was imprisoned and sentenced to death in 1605.