The Tower of London

Despite this fact, it is still referred to as a palace. In fact, the famous crown jewels are housed there today and are viewed by visitors on a regular basis. However, the Tower of London is most famous as a place of torture, execution, and as a prison. Today, Tourists can enjoy visiting the Traitor's gate, Beauchamp's Tower, the chapel of St. John the Evangelist, and the Royal Armories.

The white tower is the main tower. In the 13th century, Edward I built Beauchamp Tower which soon became a prison for important convicts. Many poignant inscriptions from the prisoners remain today.

Prisoners would enter through the Traitor's gate. They would arrive by boat from the River Thames. In full sight would be the Bloody Tower, which received its name in 1843 after the incarcerations and subsequent deaths of the 2 young sons of Edward IV.

Most executions, however, were big exhibitions that took place in front of mobs of people over by Tower Hill. In fact, two of the wives of Henry VIII were executed at Tower Green.

It is interesting to note that the guards for the towers continue to wear the garb of the first guards who came into existence in 1485. Also, another interesting fact is that the ravens that reside in the tower have their wings clipped. This is done so that the ravens cannot bring doom to the kingdom by flying away. It is a common belief that a terrible fate would befall the kingdom should the ravens ever fly away.

Both public and private transportation can be used to arrive at the Tower of London. The closest tube station is Tower Hill.

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Kyong Reatherford regularly buys train tickets to visit London with First Capital Connect.

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