Review: Tower of London.

Hi all,

So last weekend I went to the Tower of London, I did a small post about the day and briefly talked about the Tower of London within it located here. The reason why I am making this exact post because of how amazing the Tower of London was, and I didn’t feel I did it justice in that small snippet I wrote.

As said in that post and up above, the Tower of London is awe-inspiring. When I walked around I felt like I was walking in a piece of history, the architecture of the buildings and the stories behind each one.

From Isaac Newton becoming the Warden of the Royal Mint in 1696, his work in bringing about new coinage and his place of work being Mint Street. Then other facts about the crown jewels that were on display, the sense of wealth and history behind them. I was looking at more money in the displays then I will likely every own in my lifetime.

Overall a very nice experience, and nice few hours walking about. Thought we did comment to each other that we could have easily spent a whole day out, there was so much to see and we only managed a few buildings in 3 hours that we were there. Ali and I stated that we would definitely come back at a later point and spend the whole day, or as long as it took for us to get around every building.

We started off with a tour that was included in the price of £28, yes it may seem a lot but with the tour that came afterwards and the general way the Tower of London was displayed I feel that it was worth it.

We were told about the moat, how it was drained and turned into its current state. To Mint Street, and the important part one single street has played in Brtish history. The Tower of London is also very close to the river, so much so that it has its own entrance via a river gate that barges would enter. These barges were usually for royal or noble visits, as a few hundred years ago the streets of London were not as clean as they are today, the river was seen as the safer option for travel.

We found out about the various Queens that entered through this gate, some that were not alive for much longer after entering the Tower of London. Though an interesting point of historical fact was that Queen Elizabeth didn’t very much like the Tower of London, and seldom visited.

We went through the Bloody Tower, which below you can see a quick video of the place. The name does provide a sense of the history of the area, but the view itself was very beautiful. It was  a very sunny day with a small breeze only helped matters.

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We then went to if the Executioners Square, but upon doing a check I can see that it was called Tower Green. I guess I didn’t remember the name properly. But here were the grounds for executions for royals and nobles, it was deemed better for them to be executed away from the public and behind closed doors. It was a lovely area, in the execution spot there is a now small white plaque.

The tour was conducted by a Beefeater, no one knows how they got their names. Though the Beefeater said it could possibly be that during the middle ages they were given beef and rum every day. In any case, the man who did or tour was very knowledgeable and articulate. They live on site, and the Beefeater even pointed out his own house. We were told about how the Duke of Wellington overhauled the Beefeaters, as before his appointment they were not really great at their jobs, they could be seen at pubs more than at their posts.

From here we wandered into the White Tower, now this was the original part of the Tower of London built by William the Conquerer after his invasion of England had been complete. Today it still stands proudly, its design is brilliant and leaves no questions unasked to its purpose.

Inside there was a museum to all the ages, from the early period of Norman conquest all the way up to when the Duke of Wellington took command of the Tower of London.

There were horses in full clad armour.

This whole section was beautiful to see, the actual history behind the Tower of London and all that it exemplified. The military might of England and Britain afterwards.

There was a very cool Dragon inside, made up from various weapons.

We left the White Tower and headed to where the crown jewels were housed. Now I have always heard of them and seen them in modern media, but to see them in person was something else. The media doesn’t appear to be able to capture just how grandiose a small trinket from the college is, and then when you look at the various crowns on display brings in other emotions.

In any case leaving the building was an experience, we all had a small talk about what it meant to be rich and how our viewpoints could change. I think the whole tour and walk around afterwards gave us all a lot to think about.

Anyway the above is just my thoughts and a general guide on what happened at the Tower of London, I do want to go back and explore further, so maybe later on in the summer.

All pictures were taken by my iPhone, if anyone is unhappy with any of them then I can take them down.