This ancient fortress continues to pack in the crowds with its macabre associations with the legendary figures imprisoned and/or executed here. There are more spooks here per square foot than in any other building in the whole of haunted Britain. Headless bodies, bodiless heads, phantom soldiers, icy blasts, clanking chains—you name them, the Tower’s got them. Centuries after the last head rolled on Tower Hill, a shivery atmosphere of impending doom still lingers over the Tower’s mighty walls. Plan on spending a lot of time here.
The Tower is actually an intricately patterned compound of structures built throughout the ages for varying purposes, mostly as expressions of royal power. The oldest is the White Tower, begun by William the Conqueror in 1078 to keep London’s native Saxon population in check. Later rulers added other towers, more walls, and fortified gates, until the buildings became like a small town within a city. Until the reign of James I (beginning in 1603), the Tower was also one of the royal residences.
But above all, it was a prison for distinguished captives. Every stone of the Tower tells a story—usually a gory one. In the Bloody Tower, according to Shakespeare, Richard III’s henchmen murdered the two little princes (the sons of Edward IV). On the walls of the Beauchamp Tower, you can still read the last messages scratched by despairing prisoners. Through Traitors’ Gate passed such illfated, romantic figures as Robert Devereux, the second earl of Essex and a favorite of Elizabeth I. A plaque marks the eerie place at Tower Green where two wives of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, plus Sir Thomas More, and the 4-day queen, Lady Jane Grey, all lost their lives.
The Tower, besides being a royal palace, a fortress, and a prison, was also an armory, a treasury, a menagerie and, in 1675, an astronomical observatory. Reopened in 1999, the White Tower holds the Armouries, which date from the reign of Henry VIII, as well as a display of instruments of torture and execution that recall some of the most ghastly moments in the Tower’s history. In the Jewel House, you’ll find the tower’s greatest attraction, the Crown Jewels. Here, some of the world’s most precious stones are set into robes, swords, scepters, and crowns. The Imperial State Crown is the most famous crown on earth; made for Victoria in 1837, it’s worn today by Queen Elizabeth II when she opens Parliament. Studded with some 3,000 jewels (principally diamonds), it includes the Black Prince’s Ruby, worn by Henry V at Agincourt. The 530-carat Star of Africa, a cut diamond on the Royal Scepter with Cross, would make Harry Winston turn over in his grave. You’ll have to stand in long lines to catch just a glimpse of the jewels as you and hundreds of others scroll by on moving sidewalks, but the wait is worth it.
The presumed prison cell of Sir Thomas More is open to the public. More left this cell in 1535 to face his executioner after he’d fallen out with King Henry VIII over the monarch’s desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon, the first of his six wives. More is believed to have lived in the lower part of the Bell Tower during the last 14 months of his life, although some historians doubt this claim.
A palace inhabited by King Edward I in the late 1200s stands above Traitors’ Gate. It’s the only surviving medieval palace in Britain. Guides at the palace are dressed in period costumes, and reproductions of furniture and fittings, including Edward’s throne, evoke the era, along with burning incense and candles.
With the opening of a visitors center and the restoration of the Tower’s 13th-century wharf, the attraction is more user-friendly than ever before. To the west of the Tower is Tower Hill Square, designed by Stanton Williams, with a series of pavilions housing ticketing facilities, a gift shop, and a cafeteria.
Don’t forget to look for the ravens. Six of them (plus two spares) are all registered as official Tower residents. According to a legend, the Tower of London and the Kingdom will stand as long as those black, ominous birds remain, so to be on the safe side, one of the wings of each raven is clipped.
Admission
Schedule
Tower Hill, EC3.&0870/756-7070 www.tower-of-london.org.uk
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The Tower is actually an intricately patterned compound of structures built throughout the ages for varying purposes, mostly as expressions of royal power. The oldest is the White Tower, begun by William the Conqueror in 1078 to keep London’s native Saxon population in check. Later rulers added other towers, more walls, and fortified gates, until the buildings became like a small town within a city. Until the reign of James I (beginning in 1603), the Tower was also one of the royal residences.
But above all, it was a prison for distinguished captives. Every stone of the Tower tells a story—usually a gory one. In the Bloody Tower, according to Shakespeare, Richard III’s henchmen murdered the two little princes (the sons of Edward IV). On the walls of the Beauchamp Tower, you can still read the last messages scratched by despairing prisoners. Through Traitors’ Gate passed such illfated, romantic figures as Robert Devereux, the second earl of Essex and a favorite of Elizabeth I. A plaque marks the eerie place at Tower Green where two wives of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, plus Sir Thomas More, and the 4-day queen, Lady Jane Grey, all lost their lives.
The Tower, besides being a royal palace, a fortress, and a prison, was also an armory, a treasury, a menagerie and, in 1675, an astronomical observatory. Reopened in 1999, the White Tower holds the Armouries, which date from the reign of Henry VIII, as well as a display of instruments of torture and execution that recall some of the most ghastly moments in the Tower’s history. In the Jewel House, you’ll find the tower’s greatest attraction, the Crown Jewels. Here, some of the world’s most precious stones are set into robes, swords, scepters, and crowns. The Imperial State Crown is the most famous crown on earth; made for Victoria in 1837, it’s worn today by Queen Elizabeth II when she opens Parliament. Studded with some 3,000 jewels (principally diamonds), it includes the Black Prince’s Ruby, worn by Henry V at Agincourt. The 530-carat Star of Africa, a cut diamond on the Royal Scepter with Cross, would make Harry Winston turn over in his grave. You’ll have to stand in long lines to catch just a glimpse of the jewels as you and hundreds of others scroll by on moving sidewalks, but the wait is worth it.
The presumed prison cell of Sir Thomas More is open to the public. More left this cell in 1535 to face his executioner after he’d fallen out with King Henry VIII over the monarch’s desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon, the first of his six wives. More is believed to have lived in the lower part of the Bell Tower during the last 14 months of his life, although some historians doubt this claim.
A palace inhabited by King Edward I in the late 1200s stands above Traitors’ Gate. It’s the only surviving medieval palace in Britain. Guides at the palace are dressed in period costumes, and reproductions of furniture and fittings, including Edward’s throne, evoke the era, along with burning incense and candles.
With the opening of a visitors center and the restoration of the Tower’s 13th-century wharf, the attraction is more user-friendly than ever before. To the west of the Tower is Tower Hill Square, designed by Stanton Williams, with a series of pavilions housing ticketing facilities, a gift shop, and a cafeteria.
Don’t forget to look for the ravens. Six of them (plus two spares) are all registered as official Tower residents. According to a legend, the Tower of London and the Kingdom will stand as long as those black, ominous birds remain, so to be on the safe side, one of the wings of each raven is clipped.
Admission
- £15 ($27) adults
- £12 ($22) students and seniors
- £9.50 ($17) children
- £43 ($77) family ticket for 5 (but no more than 2 adults)
- free for children under 5
Schedule
- Mar–Oct Tues–Sat 9am–6pm, Sun & Mon 10am–6pm
- Nov–Feb Tues–Sat 9am–5pm, Sun & Mon 10am–5pm
Tower Hill, EC3.&0870/756-7070 www.tower-of-london.org.uk
Google Maps
View Larger Map
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