Tower of London

Beef Eater or Yeoman Warder - A traditional guard, now pretty much a tour guide. These positions have been handed down through families for many generations, also handed down are the houses around the tower, which would now be worth a fortune!
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We weren't sure what to expect of the Tower of London, but we were so impressed with what we did see, it was probably one of our highlights. Definitely a whole day is required to fully explore this place.

It was much bigger than we had expected and it's so well looked after and in such good condition, it's hard to believe it's so old and original and not just a replica. The Tower of London is actually a collection of towers built and extended during the reign of subsequent monarchs.

Some of the many weapons on display in the White Tower
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Many kings have lived there and many famous people including three Queens were executed there. These were Lady Jane Grey and King Henry the 8^th’s second and fifth wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

The White Tower was the first to be built, begun in the reign of William the Conqueror (who was the third King of England), it was completed in 1100.

The White Tower now houses amazing collections of arms and amour including a life size line up of horses with armour of the relevant king in the order of their period of rule. Also on display are hundreds of guns, swords and a rather scary collection of medieval weapons.

Armour of Henry the 8th
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Something we experienced here for the first time is that old places were not built with lifts, but very narrow and steep spiral stair cases. We’re not sure how many steps we carried our very heavy little Grace up and down, but it was in the hundreds!

The Crown Jewels were beautiful, we’re still not convinced they were the real thing, to see such an incredible wealth of jewels all in one place seems hard to comprehend.  But they were amazing to see. We timed our visit to the jewels perfectly, we had walked straight in, but about an hour or so later, the queue stretched right down the courtyard – about a 2 hour wait!

Angela, Grace, Hayley and Lauryn looking down from the Tower Wall
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We walked around the tower walls which took us through various towers and houses, one of which was the Medieval Palace. There was some actors putting on a display which we couldn’t quite follow, but was fun to watch none the less.

What was so impressive about the Tower of London is that we were able to walk freely around a place so full of history and so rich with knowledge of the past.