Monday the 20th of October we are in London. We planned on taking a nap before heading out
to ride a hop on hop off bus around the city.
However, we changed our minds when we found out that what is left of
hurricane Gonzalo is scheduled to arrive in England Monday night into
Tuesday. Gale force winds, rain and
colder temperatures are forecast. That
being said, after checking into this very nice hotel, we took a taxi to the Tower
of London. We arrived in time to join a
tour of the Tower with one of the Yeoman Warder’s.
The Yeoman Warders have been designated by Queen to guard
the Tower and the Crown Jewels that are housed there. With there bright colored uniforms they are
hard to miss. Their dress uniforms cost
6,000 British pounds, about $10,000 each.
The red poppies that we saw everywhere are there to honor
the men that lost their lives during WW I.
2014 is the 100th anniversary of “the war to end all
wars”. There will be 11,000 poppies when
they are finished on November 11, 2014.
All of the poppies have been purchased and will be delivered to the
owners shortly there after.
After the tour we walked over to the New Armories to have
some lunch. After lunch we toured the
White Tower, a museum with armor, horse armor, swords, spikes and early firearms. Lots and lots of stairs to climb and descend
while touring the Tower. When the tour
was over we decided that the line to see the Crown Jewels was just too
long. We walked out the gate, found a
taxi and came back to the hotel. We
cleaned up, took a nap and ordered room service. We will see what the weather allows us to do
tomorrow
There is so much history associated with the Tower of London
that it takes a long time to tell it all.
So here is the condensed version.
In 1598 John Stow, in the Survey of London stated; “This
Tower is a citadel to defend or command the city; a Royal Palace for assemblies
or treaties; a prison of state for the most dangerous offenders. The only place
of coinage for all England at this time; the armory for warlike provision; the
treasury of the ornaments and jewels of the crown; and jewels of the crown, and
general conserver of the most records of the king’s courts of justice at
Westminster.”
Entering the Tower is through the middle tower gate. It is here that you pick up the Yeoman
Warder’s tours. The grounds are quite
extensive and all paved in cobblestone.
Traitors Gate was also an entrance to the Tower. It originally was used as a gate for the
Royalty to enter the Tower, but later became infamous for being the discrete
entrance for traitor, people of distinction and Royalty who would latter lose
their heads. If you were of some stature
you would be taken to Tower Hill to have your head removed. This done to cheering crowds, some so large
that the seating arranged for the event would sometimes collapse. For the Royalty they lost their heads on the
Tower Green, a small area of grass close to the Chapel.
The White Tower is the most imposing structure on the
grounds. It is a creation of William the
Conqueror. It was stared by him in 1075
and finished in 1100 by William Rufus.
The first prisoner was Ranulf Flambard and he was also the first
escapee. It started out as a fortress,
secondly as a place for the King’s governmental and ceremonial functions. It most important function was to serve a
permanent reminder to the Norman nobility and native population of the kings
authority. It served as a military
storehouse and now serves as a museum of arms and armor.
As I have said, the Tower has served many different
functions. The last one I will mention
is that it served as London’s first zoo.
It started out as a place to store animals that were gifts from foreign
rulers. It started in the 13th
century with three lions. The end of the
zoo came in the 1830’s, because of expense and the danger it was causing to the
visitors. Several were attacked and
injured. The animals were transferred to
Regent’s Park and became the London zoo, the oldest and still operating zoo in
the world.
The last subject is the story of the Ravens. They had become a nuisance and were to be
destroyed. King Charles II was the monarch
to come to their rescue. The legend has
it that the kingdom and the Tower will fall if the six resident ravens ever
leave the fortress. Actually there are eight Ravens, two in
reserve.
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| Poppies at the Tower |
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| Our Warder Yeoman |
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