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March 13, 2014

13 Facts About the Tower of London

Thursday Thirteen

If you’re a tourist in London chances are you’ll spend some time at the Tower of London. I’ve wandered through the tower, gawked at the crown jewels and checked out the ravens and beefeaters. It’s a place that breathes and sighs history.

Thirteen Facts About the Tower of London

1. The Tower was originally build by William the Conqueror and used as a palace and fortress.

2. It was never supposed to be a prison, but the inhabitants discovered that the fortress kept people in as well as keeping people out.

3. During World War II the tower was used to house prisoners of war.

4. Ravens have always been kept at the tower. At least six ravens are kept and they’re replaced if they die. It’s said if the ravens leave the tower bad luck will arrive.

Tower of London Ravens

5. The Tower of London is home to the crown jewels and has been for centuries.

6. Every night at 9:53 pm the ceremony of the keys takes place where the Queen’s Guards and the Chief Yeoman Warder lock all the gates.

7. On 6th November 2012 the keys were stolen. *gasp*

8. Only 22 executions have taken place inside the Tower of London. Most took place at nearby Tower Hill.

9. The last execution was of Lord Lovet, a Jacobite, on 9th April 1747.

10. The Tower housed the royal menagerie, which included lions, an elephant and a polar bear. The polar bear was allowed to hunt for fish in the Thames while on a leash.

11. The Duke of Wellington closed the menagerie in 1853. The animals became the first in the London zoo, which is in Regent’s Park.

12. Several ghosts haunt the tower, including Anne Boleyn, Henry VI, Lady Jane Grey, the Princes in the tower and a grizzly bear. I didn’t see any of these during my visit.

13. The Tower has been a tourist destination since Elizabethan times.

Source: www.royalcentral.co.uk

Have you visited the Tower? If not, what would you like to see?

15 Comments

  1. sandy

    informative

  2. Alice Audrey

    I get t he feeling the tower is a lot bigger than I realized.

    • Shelley Munro

      Yes, you can spend the best part of a day exploring the place.

  3. Kimberly Menozzi

    I have got to visit the tower the next time I go to London. Which reminds me… I need to go to London again. ;)

    Happy TT to you!

    • Shelley Munro

      Hubby and I are spending a few days in London later on the year. I can’t wait!

  4. Heather

    I think it would be a fascinating place to visit.

    • Shelley Munro

      There’s so much history. If those walls could talk…

  5. Ron.

    Interesting fact about those ravens: They’re delicious, but it takes a bunch of them to fill a pie.

    • Shelley Munro

      LOL – I’d think they’d be tough!

  6. CountryDew

    That is one old building. I love history. There really *must* be ghosts of all kinds in there.

    • Shelley Munro

      I think so too. I believe there have been many sightings. The grizzly bear would be an interesting one!

  7. Jennifer Leeland

    Oh!! So cool! So….they lost the keys. Did they ever find them?