Tower of London

Tower of London day! Unfortunately we couldn't take a Yeoman tour (I cried a little bit inside) but we still got to see some really cool stuff. I got plenty of pictures for you!

The Moat
It's been dried up, and is now used for races.

Roman wall---they're all over the city

 

A closer picture of Tower Bridge

There was so much to do at the Tower, and we didn't exactly know where to start. Luckily, there was a group of actors just as we entered that were getting ready to do a reenactment of one of the tower's famous stories, so we joined the crowd.

It was a story of a Duchess who was married at age thirteen to an Earl who left almost immediately to go to India. While he was gone, she fell in love with another man and planned to divorce her husband when he returned and marry her 'true love'. The only problem was the in those days, you had to be a maid to get a divorce, in other words a virgin. Most people believed she was one, but one man, a Sir Thomas, was aware that she and her 'true love' had been intimate.

Because he was standing in her way, the Duchess had him poisoned, leaving the path clear for her to accomplish her designs. A few years later, however, one of the guards admitted on his death bed to poisoning Sir Thomas, and an investigation began. The Duchess's servant girl was caught and killed, as was the lead guard of the Tower, for their part in the plot. The Duchess and her new husband, however, were favorites of the King, and so did not receive any consequences.

While the performance was going on, I wasn't sure about how true it was, but interestingly enough they stuck to the facts (aside from presenting it to an audience). It was our introduction to the tower, and a very fitting one.

The next place we went was to see the Crown Jewel's, since it was number one on everyone's list of things to do. Usually the line is rather long, but we walked practically straight through. Unfortunately they don't allow cameras in any part of the tower, but I got a picture of the outside and the front gate (before they told me to turn my camera off)

The crown jewels were of course amazing, and many of the girls in our programme went through multiple times to get a better look at them. When we came out of the building, we were lucky enough to see the guards on their way to relieve those who had been guarding the jewels. What was most interesting about this is the fact that it's not a show at all, but a real military action.

We wandered around for a little bit, not really knowing where to go, and I took a few pictures along the way.

Little apartments (hotel rooms?) that you can stay in inside the tower
(If you can afford it...)

Rodger! (One of our two professors)

Yeoman Guide

Beautiful creatures!

 As we were wandering around, though, we saw one of the famous Ravens of the Tower! There's a legend that if the Ravens ever leave, the tower will crumble and the Monarchy will fall. Since the legend started, there have always been at least six Ravens at the tower (I believe) and you are not allowed to touch or feed them or anything else. They're almost 'sacred' to the tower in a way, since that's the only word I can think of to describe it.

They make a really, really weird noise!!

After we saw the raven, we finally decided what to do. The tower nearest us was Beauchamp (Beecham.....don't ask) Tower, one of the many places where prisoners were held. There was graffiti all around the walls of people who had been there for years, just marking time until they would either be released or die, whether by execution or old age. Some of the carving was extremely deep in the wall, and it was almost unbelievable.

I can't tell you how many spiral staircases we climbed...

 After that we hurried over to the Bloody Tower, so named because of the story of the two princes.

Pulley system for the gate

The two sons of Henry IV, Edward and Richard were brought to the tower shortly after their father's death. Edward was to be crowned King Edward V, but that was not to be. In 1483 they were declared illegitimate by an Act of Parliament, and therefore unable to obtain the throne. Instead, Richard III, their uncle, took their place. The boys were reportedly seen soon after the coronation of their uncle playing on the grounds, but then disappeared from all points of history. In 1674, however, two young skeletons were found in a small staircase of one of the towers, and with the sciences of the day they were reasonably assumed to be Edward and Richard at ages 12 and 10.

The majority of the world believes that the two princes were murdered in the tower, but there is little to prove when or by whom. There are two main theories: one, Richard III had them murdered in order to make his claim to the throne more secure, which is one of the things discussed in Shakespeare's play about the 'Wicked King', as he is known in Britain's history. Two, Henry VII had them murdered after taking the throne from Richard, because had they been alive he wouldn't have had any claim to the throne whatsoever. Instead, he killed them and blamed the murder on their 'wicked' uncle.

We'll probably never know what happened to these boys and how their skeletons ended up in the tower, but it is a disturbing and mysterious story nonetheless, and part of history. They were held in the Bloody Tower for a while, but their bones were found within a different tower that was part of the White Tower. We got to see both the room they stayed in and the staircase their skeletons were found in. While we were looking into that staircase, we heard a young boy's voice say "Uncle?" Although we all knew it was a recording, it was just distant and eerie enough to unsettle us.

Where the skeletons were found

 Next, we went to the White Tower. This was the part that was originally built as a palace for the King, but has also been used for a prison and a torture chamber. Today, it is an amazing history of the weapons and armory of England throughout the years. Personally, I find the subject of armory extremely interesting, so I took a picture of almost every suit of armor in the entire place. For you, however, I'm only showing some of my favorites (which you should be grateful for).

Chapel

The giant and the drawf

Dragon!
(Why? I have no idea.)

Swords!

 There were so many swords in the tower, and we even got to hold some of them, which made my day! They were of course attached to the walls, but we were allowed to take the hilt and feel the weight of them in our hands. Since my stage combat class, I've become fascinated with swords, and would love to learn more and more how to use them.
 

Head block

Interactive station

Just a cool gate...

 Anyway, that was my day at the Tower of London! It was absolutely amazing! I bought a book at the gift shop about swords and other weapons through the ages, and it is so fascinating! I never realized how different the making of swords was, and what a difference it makes in combat. It's also going to help me a lot in writing my book, because I do have characters who are swords-masters. What a place to study it!

Just a fantastic day, and I wish you all could have been there!