The Tower of London

Posted bykimandsallyPosted inUncategorized

9am start again, this time setting off to The Tower of London. Lovely warm day today.

Tower of London
The Tower of London (actually made up of quite a few towers!)

Once inside (and going through the usual security checks etc) we headed straight to view the Crown Jewels (knowing from research that this can get very busy). We were amazed at the number of different crowns. Each crown is made individually for each monarch, and then the jewels and trimmings are added (something we had not realised). The monarch’s don’t actually own the crowns, they are just custodians.

There were also many other treasures – sceptres, swords, gold serving ware etc. Unfortunately (and understandably) photos were not allowed.

Notice the ‘herding gates’ on the right-these began to fill up not long after we arrived

An unassuming entrance to all that wealth!

The Koh-i-Noor, also spelled Kohinoor and Koh-i-Nur, is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing 105.6 carats. It is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.This diamond has to be seen to be believed!!!

Following this we tacked onto one of the free tours with Darrin (a yeoman at the tower). He showed us around the exterior of the buildings and gave us a highly entertaining, interactive and informative tour. Apparently every yeoman (or Beefeater) is given a bottle of Beefeater Gin on their birthday. They have to spend 22 years in the army before they are able to become a yeoman.

Note the raven watching from the top off the roof. Legend has it that when the ravens leave the tower, the monarchy will fall

Next we grabbed some headphones for a self guided audio tour. We explored the interior of many of the buildings, as well as finding out a bit more about the grounds. Below are some of the highlights.

Knight & horse in armour – display in the Keep
Inside the armoury
The Chapel of St John in the White Tower
The Executioners block!
Henry’s tiny wee chapel
Site where Anne of Boleyn was beheaded with a two handled French sword. Legend goes that her lips were still moving in prayer after she was beheaded!
Chapel where Anne is buried
Anne’s tomb in the chapel

Some images/ videos from the exterior

Shaun getting into a spot of trouble!
The original Tower of London – The Keep
Apparently there was a menagerie of animals kept back in the day
The audio tours are such a good idea.

We also enjoyed a delicious (and surprisingly well priced) lunch here, and later in the afternoon visited the Shard (but that is for another post).

If you are thinking of visiting the Tower, give yourself plenty of time – we spent about 5 hours there!!

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