I made sure that a bought a guidebook to the Tower of London, for blogging purposes, how sad am I? However, I sat down at my desk this morning, reached into the drawer and the guidebook isn't there. so I'm now going to be writing this with the aid of t'internet. We all sat down to a ginormous breakfast on Friday morning, the plan being that the kids might then last out past 11 o'clock before demanding more food. The buffet in the hotel suited everyone, there was fresh fruit, yoghurts, smoothies, fruit juice, cold meats, cheese, toast, rolls, bacon, scrambled and fried eggs, 2 types of sausages, hash browns, grilled and plum tomatoes, mushrooms and endless tea or coffee. We then waddled over the road to the Tower of London. We decided that we would join one of the Yeoman Warder guides for the first part of our visit, and this proved to be a good decision, he was a great story teller and made the history of the tower really interesting for all of us, including the kids.  
The Yeoman Warders have been guarding the Tower since 1485, today there are 35 Yeoman and a Chief Warder. All warders are former non commissioned officers in the armed forces, they must've served a minimum of 22 years and hold both long service and good conduct medals. There is one lady warder, Moira Cameron, who in September of this year become the first ever female Yeoman Warder. The Yeoman Warders live in the Tower, with their families, paying council tax and a proportion of their salary in rent, however they must all also own property outside the Tower to go back to when they retire. One Yeoman Warder is known as the Raven Master, it is his job to look after the Tower Ravens, legend has it that if the ravens ever leave then the tower, and the monarchy, will crumble. They are very well looked after birds. The Yeoman Warders are often known as the Beefeaters, nobody really knows why but at one time they were paid in rations and that did include beef, but also mutton and veal. The Byward Tower was one of the first towers we saw on our tour, it is one of 21 towers that make up the complex. Work started on the Byward Tower, the great gatehouse of the outer ward, in 1238, during the reign of Henry III, work continued under Richard II in 1381, this was strengthening work. Richard II and his family lived in the Byward Tower for a time.  With our backs to the Byward Tower we looked up at the Bell Tower, named because of the Belfry on the top. This tower was built in the 13th century, although the current bell is from 1651. In the past when the bell was rung in alarm the drawbridges would be raised, portcullises dropped and gates shut, it is still rung each evening to warn visitors on the wharf that it's time to leave. Sir Thomas More was one of the most famous prisoners in this tower, at one time a good friend of Henry VIII he was imprisoned in 1534 for refusing to accept the validity of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon and therefore not acknowledging the King as supreme head of the Church, he was executed in July 1535 and is buried in the Tower Chapel. 
We then walked up Water Lane towards Traitors Gate, looking back for a view of The Bell Tower and Byward Tower.
Traitors Gate was built, on the orders of Edward I, between 1275 and 1279. Originally it was used as an entrance by the King and his family when they arrived by river, but as the Tower came to be used more and more as a prison it became the arrival point for enemies of the state accused of treason. One such prisoner was Anne Boleyn, she had prepared for her coronation at the Tower and just 3 years later returned via Traitors Gate as a prisoner, she was executed on Tower Green on 19th May 1536. Her daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, was also taken to the Tower via Traitors Gate, she was 21 and must have thought back to her mother who was taken to the Tower when Elizabeth was 3, Elizabeth must have thought that she too would never leave, however, she was released 8 weeks later.  We moved on to Tower Green, this was the scene of private executions by beheading, 7 executions are known to have been carried out here: William, Lord Hastings Queen Anne Boleyn Margaret, Countess of Salisbury Queen Katherine Howard Jane, Viscountess Rochford Lady Jane Grey Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex The Yeoman Warder told us about each execution, in fairly graphic detail. The whole Tower has an atmosphere of history, you are really aware of how old parts of it are and how many important events took place there, never more so than stood on Tower Green, the sense of history was quite overwhelming. In the centre of the photo you can see where the executions took place on the scaffold, towards the front right of the photo you can see a modern memorial to the 7 people that lost their lives here.  The final place we visited with the Yeoman Warder was the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, (St Peter in chains). One of the most important burial sites in British History, with 2 Queens, 2 Dukes and many others buried there. I wasn't able to take photos inside the Chapel, or any of the Tower Buildings, but I did take this one of 2 Yeoman Warders having a morning natter just outside. 
We were then left to wander around the various Towers by ourselves, we chose to visit the Waterloo Barracks, home to the Crown Jewels. Again I wasn't able to take photos, but do visit if you ever get chance, they are breathtaking. 
http://www.royal.gov.uk/OutPut/Page5019.asp
We also went into The Martin Tower, built between 1238 and 1272 by Henry de Reyns, on the orders of King Henry III. The Crown jewels were stored here between 1669 and 1841, there was an attempt to steal them from here in 1671 by Colonel Thomas Blood and his men. Henry Percy, the ninth Earl of Northumberland, was imprisoned in the Martin Tower in 1605, for 17 years, for his part in the gunpowder plot. More recently 11 german spies were held here during the First World War, and were executed in the Tower. Nowadays it holds a very interesting exhibition about Diamonds.
The final Tower we visited was the huge White Tower, at the centre of the complex. Built by William the Conquerer and finished by his sons, it is 90 feet high and the walls are between 11 and 15 feet thick. It was the home of the medieval kings of England, with the royal families living on the top floor and the council chamber being on the floor below. There are no doors at ground floor level, the main entrance being reached by a staircase on the south side of the building. It now houses the Royal Armouries.  We had so much that we wanted to do in London that we had only allowed a morning in the Tower, so barely scratched the surface of what there is to see, JK and I are hoping to return to London for a weekend by ourselves next year and we may well go back and try to see a bit more. As we left the Tower we passed this group of character actors, they are so professional that although they were stood chattering as soon as they saw my camera out of the corner of their eyes they instantly stopped and posed.  My intention was to write all about Friday in this chapter, but this bit alone has taken me an hour and a half, so Friday afternoon, St Paul's Cathedral, will have to wait for chapter 3, (which I hope to write on Wednesday). I hope you've found the this glimpse into the Tower interesting, it's hard to get over in writing just how atmospheric the place is, well worth visiting for anyone with even the slightest interest in history.
 | This was interesting indeed. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us. Learned a lot here.
I love history but never have the time to read much of it, these entries give quick views that make us see another part of the world at another time.
Great post. |
 | it sounds fascinating. i can't wait to hear part 3. it's a real shame they don't allow photography inside the buildings. oh well, i'm just going to have to hope that i will be able to visit london someday. |
 | Thank you so much, Viv. I thoroughly enjoyed your count of the history, as well as the pictures. Looking forward to St. Paul's. Strange, isn't it, that 5 out of the 7 beheadees were women? Scary thought. |
 | Hi Viv. Here at last to comment!! I really enjoyed this post, even better than Part One. This is the one place I always try to visit on the odd occasions I go to London. You're right, you can almost feel the weight of history pressing down on your shoulders, far more than in any other place I've visited. Probably because so many famous names are associated with it. The only other place I felt it that strongly was Stonehenge, but that was for different reasons. Great photos, as always.
BTW, I was on my lunch-break, but only had a few mins, so didn't have time to properly comment. |
 | it's somewhere i had only been once before, when i was about 5 so i don't remember it, but i've been told, far too many times for it to be amusing anymore, that i took great delight in talking about the bloody tower, 'cos I can say that word, 'cos that's what it's called, isn't it Mum, it's the bloody tower'. Honestly if she recounts that tale one more time she might find herself sent there!
Definitely a place I will be visiting again, I've got so much still to see.
Btw, I found the guidebook, it was in Elizabeth's pit. |
| lol! my dad is that way with some stories about me. isn't that something all parents do, though? :) |
 | Very interesting. As I posted before, I love that last photo of the actors posing. |
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