14 Interesting Facts About the Tower of London
Are you interested to know some facts about the Tower of London?
Many people throughout the world consider the Tower of London to be among the most famous and important historical sites that can be found anywhere in the world. This majestic tower has a lengthy history and has been used for several reasons over the course of that history, including serving as a royal residence, an armory, and even a prison.
Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London are an ancient fortress in the heart of the English capital, situated on the north bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, it is separated from the eastern boundary of the City of London square mile by Tower Hill.
This famous (and also infamous) tower is the site of some bloody incidents in England’s history and the crown jewels.
Given that this extraordinary structure has a long and dramatic history, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that there is a great number of interesting information connected to it.
On this post, you will learn several interesting facts about the Tower of London, most of which you probably didn’t know before reading this.
14 Interesting Facts About the Tower of London
Here are 14 interesting facts about the Tower of London that won’t hurt to know!
1. William the Conqueror built the Tower of London
William the Conqueror gave the order to build the White Tower in London so that he could strengthen his position in the city in the face of vehement resistance from the Saxons, whom he had previously subdued and enslaved. The Saxons had rebelled against William’s rule after he had already conquered and enslaved them.
The creation of the Tower of London in the year 1070 was an important event in the history of London. It was constructed as a fortification and palace, and it became a symbol of the might of the monarchy almost immediately after its completion. The castle acted as a powerful and imposing projection of Norman military might.
Although it has undergone numerous transformations over the course of its thousand-year history, the Tower of London has maintained its status as one of the most well-known and recognizable structures in London.
2. It was built entirely by hand using Kentish ragstones
The majority of the original Norman castles, including the Tower of London, were either rebuilt or replaced with stone structures by the end of the 11th century.
Wood and timber were the original building materials for these constructions. The Tower of London was constructed entirely by hand using ragstones from Kent.
Kentish ragstone is a sedimentary limestone that is hard, long-lasting, and gray in color. Specifically, it’s possible to locate it in the state of Kent in England. This stone is quarried from the Hythe Beds in the Lower Greensand.
Ragstone quarries were used to meet domestic and international demand over the course of several centuries.
3. The Tower has served many functions
There’s a variety of roles that the Tower of London fulfills in society. The purpose of the tower’s construction was so that it could function as the official residence of the royal family.
After that, it was used as a fortification, a prison, a site for conducting executions, a royal mint, a zoo, and an arsenal. In addition to this, it is the place where the valuable Crown Jewels of England are stored at the present time.
These are the reasons why the famous tower is of such great historical and cultural significance.
4. The Tower is “guarded” by ravens that cannot leave
The Tower of London is a fortification that dates back hundreds of years and has been the setting for a few tales and legends, many of which include the ravens who are kept there as residents.
Since ancient times, the Tower of London has been said to be guarded by these ravens. This has led to the proliferation of several intriguing stories and legends.
It is commonly held that their presence protects both the Crown and the Tower. In fact, there is a popular urban legend that states, “if the ravens of the Tower of London are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall, and Britain with it.”
Well, these ravens sure can’t fly far because their remiges (flight feathers) are clipped!
If you’d like to see the current ravens of the Tower of London, they are on the South Lawn where they have fun playing among each other and mimicking sounds.
5. A bishop was the Tower’s very first prisoner
It was the Bishop of Durham, Ranulf Flambard, who was the first person to be held captive in the Tower of London. Additionally, he was also the first person to successfully flee the Tower.
The Bishop of Durham was able to get away from the White Tower in the year 1101 by climbing through a window while using a rope that was hidden inside a gallon of wine.
During the time when King William Rufus was in power, Flambard held the position of Royal Clerk. After Rufus’ death, King Henry I, who had just been crowned, had Flambard arrested on allegations of theft and sent to jail.
6. The King of Scotland was also imprisoned there
Edward I of England had King John Balliol of Scotland brought into captivity and imprisoned as a prisoner in the Tower of London.
After a brutal battle, the Scottish refused to surrender, which led to an invasion of the remaining population.
As a result, John Balliol was taken prisoner and stripped of his royal emblem during the invasion. He was brought as a prisoner to the Tower, but since he had before held the position of being a King, he was permitted to bring a large number of his underlings with him.
7. Two young princes vanished without a trace at the Tower
It has been a puzzle for ages as to what happened to the two young princes who vanished while they were in the protection of the Tower of London.
In the year 1483, Edward and his younger brother Richard, were taken and brought to the Tower of London, where they were never seen or heard from again.
Historians have been captivated by their absence, which has led to the development of a variety of hypotheses concerning the circumstances in which the princes might have been killed. This vanishing act is one of the “murders” at the Tower of London that fascinate visitors the most.
The baffling event took place over the course of a single summer, yet its significance is still being argued over by historians centuries later.
8. 22 people were executed at the infamous tower
I admit, before I knew this fact about the Tower of London, I mostly associated the infamous tower with beheadings and other sorts of executions.
Well, here’s what I discovered.
While hundreds of prisoners had been incarcerated in the tower throughout its 1,000-year history, only 22 executions have ever taken place there.
More than half of these executions happened in the 20th century and the vast majority did on the Tower Hill nearby.
The first man to be executed was William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, sentenced without trial (in connection with the two missing princes mentioned earlier) and beheaded on 13 June 1483.
The last beheading – that of Lord Lovat – took place on 9 April 1747.
The last man to be executed, through a firing squad, was a German spy. It happened on 14 August 1941.
9. There are ghosts at the Tower of London
The two princes mentioned earlier are said to haunt the Tower of London.
However, the tower’s most well-known ghost is probably Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife and the first wife he had executed. She is credited to be the author of the most enduring hauntings at the tower. Anne Boleyn is frequently spotted walking the halls as a headless body and can be found in the vicinity of the tower where she was executed.
If you want to know more about the hauntings in the infamous tower, I have written a separate article about the ghosts of the Tower of London. Enjoy getting spooked!
10. The Tower of London Zoo once housed extinct Barbary lions
In the 1200s, King John constructed a royal zoo in the Tower of London to store the exotic creatures donated to him by other monarchs. It became a major tourist attraction because people from London wanted to see the lions held in captivity there and the white bear that was regularly let to prowl along the Thames.
The royal menagerie was closed in the 1830s, and the animals that had been given as presents to the monarchy were moved to the London Zoo in Regent’s Park. An exhibition of Kendra Haste’s animal sculptures, installed in the Tower to honor this history, does just that.
In 1936, archaeologists excavating the area around the moat uncovered a fascinating artifact: the skeletons of two medieval lions. Their genetic makeup indicates they are connected to the extinct African subspecies of the Barbary lion.
11. Tower of London cannot be bought or sold
One of the most well-known structures in the United Kingdom, the Tower of London is also shrouded in a certain air of mystique due to its long and interesting past.
But who exactly holds ownership of it?
The answer can be found in the Crown Estate, which is in the ownership of His Majesty.
The current King is considered to have “the right to the Crown” because he is the monarch of the country at the time. Since it is not the crown’s private property, there is no way that it may be bought or sold.
12. The majority of England’s coin was made at the Tower
The mint that originally operated in the Tower of London produced all of England’s coins.
Historically, coinage was made by striking a small, blank piece of metal with a heavy object, such as a hammer, to transfer the desired design. Decades later, a screw press was developed and used in the coining industry.
In the early 1800s, more space was required, so the mint relocated from the Tower to a purpose-built facility.
13. The guards of the Tower of London are called “Beefeaters”
Their official title, however, is “The Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign’s Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary.” Quite a mouthful! “Beefeaters” is the easier way to say it.
The first Beefeaters were King Henry VII’s personal guards. They came to be called that way as they could feast on as much beef as they wanted from the King’s banquet.
It was King Henry VIII who decreed that some of the Yeoman Warders, aka Beefeaters, must stay and guard the Tower of London permanently.
14. Tower of London’s Ceremony of the Keys is one of the oldest surviving military rituals
The Ceremony of the Keys is a historic military tradition of locking up the Tower of London’s gates. It has been done here every single evening at precisely 9:53 pm – no excuses! – for more than 700 years.
If there was one thing that changed since the first day it has been taking place at the Tower, it was the name of the monarch the Yeoman Warder cries during the ceremony. Today the exchange is exactly like this:
Sentry: “Halt, who comes there?”
Chief Yeoman Warder: “The keys!”
Sentry: “Whose keys?”
Chief Yeoman Warder: “King Charles’ keys!”
Sentry: “Pass then, all’s well.”
