The Tower of London

In the 1070s, William the Conqueror began to build a massive stone tower at the centre of his massive London fortress. Nothing like it had ever been seen in England before. The ruthless William intended his mighty "White Tower" not only to dominate the skyline but also the hearts and minds of the Londoners.

He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams; nearly a thousand years later the Tower of London still holds people it is thrall. William's once mighty fortress is now a World Heritage site. 

"The Tower is a citadel to defend or command the city; a royal palace for assemblies or treaties; a prison of state for the most dangerous offenders; the only place of coinage for all England at this time; the armoury for warlike provision; the treasury of the ornaments and jewels of the crown; and general conserver of the king's courts of justice at Westminster"

John Stow, Survey of London - 1598

The tower has been all these things and more. During its long history it has changed its use and expanded its concentric rings, always with the mighty White Tower at its powerful heart.

The Traitors Gate

This is the most notorious of all the towers entrances. It is not hard to imagine the dread of those ill fated prisoners such as Sir Thomas More and Anne Boleyn, accused of treason, arriving through these gates at the Tower. 

Tower Green

Ten people were beheaded on Tower Green of which three were English Queens.

Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was in her early thirties, Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife barely in her twenties : both accused of adultery, neither may have been guilty. Lady Jane Grey, Queen for nine days, was only 16, the innocent pawn in a failed military coup by her father in law, the Duke of Northumberland.

Social convention that right up until the end they were still treated in the manner of royalty. 

"Shall I go into a dungeon?" Anne had asked on her arrival at the Tower. "No madam, you shall go into the lodging you lay in at your coronation." 

On the day of her execution she enquired "I heard say the executioner was very good and I have a little neck". She was executed by a clean stroke of an expert swordsman especially imported from France.

The Fusiliers Museum

The Royal regiment of Fusiliers was founded in 1685 by James II to protect the royal guns within the tower, two of which can be seen flaking the steps of the museum. Inside you will find many fascinating exhibits depicting the history of the regiment including a copy of a large metal "boot" which was used in 1808 to cure a malingerer.

The Yeoman Warders

The Yeoman Warders (often called Beefeaters) have been at the Tower of London since the 14th century. They are the watchmen and today also the tour guides. The 35 Yeoman work shifts to cover duties, which include the watch (literally looking at the gate all night), taking care of the safety of visitors and guiding. 

The yeoman warders are also responsible for the "ancient ceremony of the keys", which is the official locking up of the Tower which has been carried out every single night for over seven hundred years. After the locking up follows the historic exchange. 

The sentry cries out "Halt, who goes there?" The Yeoman Warder responds with "The Keys!" The sentry cries "Who's keys? and the warder responds "Queen Elizabeth's Keys" on which the sentry will answer "Pass then, all's well". The keys are then handed to the resident governer and the chief Yeoman warder says "God Praise Queen Elizabeth". The Yeomen all lift their bonnets and reply "Amen". The last post sounds into the silence and the ceremony is over for another night.

The Ravens

Legend says that the Kingdom and the Tower will fall if the six resident ravens ever leave the fortress. It was Charles II, according to the stories, who first insisted that the ravens of the Tower be protected. This was against the wishes of his astronomer, John Flamstead, who complained that the ravens impeded the business of his observatory in the White Tower.

Today the Towers seven ravens (one spare), each named are looked after very carefully by the Ravenmaster. They eat 170 grams of raw meat a day and gets bird biscuits soaked in blood. They enjoy a egg once a week and the occasional rabbit with fur and all along with scraps of fried bread. 

Despite the painless clipping of one wing some ravens do in fact go absent without leave and other have had to be sacked. 

You can take teach a raven tricks as they are very intelligent, but you can't take the Raven's nature of being naughty out of the raven ...

Raven George was dismissed for eating television aerials and Raven Grog was last seen outside an East End pub. Hee hee, even the birds follow the tradition, how can you be mad at the raven for following suit:)

The famous White Tower

All information on the tower and its inhabitants c/o The Tower of London guidebook.