Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) Tours:
Today, while the Tower's military purpose is his-
tory, it's still home to the Beefeaters—the 35 Yeoman Warders and their families. (The ori-
ginaldutyoftheYeomanWarderswastoguardtheTower,itsprisoners,andthejewels.)The
free, worthwhile, 1-hour Beefeater tours leave every 30 minutes from inside the gate (first
tour at 10:00, last one at 15:30—or 14:30 in Nov-Feb). The boisterous Beefeaters are great
entertainers, and their talks include lots of bloody anecdotes about the Tower and its history,
and they relish telling corny jokes.
Sunday Worship:
For a refreshingly different Tower experience, come on Sunday
morning, when visitors are welcome on the grounds—for free—to worship in the Chapel
Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula. You get in without the lines, but you can only see the
chapel—no sightseeing (9:15 Communion or 11:00 service with fine choral music, meet at
west gate 30 minutes early, dress for church, may be closed for ceremonies—call ahead).
VisitingtheTower:
WilliamI,stillgettingusedtohisnewtitleof“theConqueror,”built
the stone “White Tower” (1077-1097) to keep the Londoners in line. The Tower also served
as an effective lookout for seeing invaders coming up the Thames. His successors enlarged
it to its present 18-acre size. Because of the security it provided, it has served over the cen-
turies as the Royal Mint, the Royal Jewel House, and as a prison and execution site.
The Tower's hard stone and glittering jewels represent the ultimate power of the mon-
arch. The crown jewels include the world's largest cut diamond—the 530-carat Star of
Africa—placed in the royal scepter. When Queen Elizabeth II opens Parliament, she checks
out the Imperial State Crown with its 3,733 jewels, including Elizabeth I's pearl earrings.
You'll find more bloody history per square inch in this original tower of power than
anywhere else in Britain, though the actual execution site (in the courtyard) looks just like
a lawn. Not all prisoners died at the block—Richard III supposedly ordered two teenage
princes strangled in their prison cells because they were a threat to his throne.
Tower Bridge
Theiconic TowerBridge (oftenmistakenly called LondonBridge) hasbeenrecently painted
and restored. The hydraulically powered drawbridge was built in 1894 to accommodate the
growing East End. While fully modern, its design was a retro Neo-Gothic look.
You can tour the bridge at the
Tower Bridge Exhibition,
with a history display and
a peek at the Victorian engine room that lifts the span. It's overpriced at £8, though the
city views from the walkways are spectacular (daily 10:00-18:00 in summer, 9:30-17:30 in
winter, last entry 30 minutes before closing, enter at the northwest tower, Tube: Tower Hill,
tel. 020/7403-3761,
www.towerbridge.org.uk
)
.
