Page 160 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - London

158  L ONDON AREA B Y AREA

t Tower of London
“Beefeaters”
For much of its 900-year history, the Tower was an Thirty-seven Yeoman
object of fear. Those who had committed treason Warders guard the Tower
or threatened the throne were held within its and live here.
dank walls. A lucky few lived in comparative
comfort, but the majority had to put up with
appalling conditions. Many did not get out
alive, and some were tortured before meeting
violent deaths on nearby Tower Hill.

. The Jewel House
The magnificent Crown Jewels are housed
here (see p160).

Queen’s House
This is the official residence of the constables.

KEY
1 Beauchamp Tower was used for
high-ranking prisoners, who were
often allowed to keep their own Main entrance
retinues of servants.
2 Tower Green was where the
aristocratic prisoners were executed,
away from the ghoulish crowds on The Ravens
Tower Hill. But while only ten
people died here, including three The Tower’s most celebrated
queens of England, there were residents are a small colony of
hundreds of public executions on ravens. It is not known when
Tower Hill. they first settled here, but there
3 Wakefield Tower, part of the is a legend that should they desert
Medieval Palace, has been carefully the Tower, the kingdom will fall.
refurbished to match its original In fact, the birds have part of their
appearance in the 13th century. wings trimmed on the right side,
making full flight impossible. The Ravenmaster, one of the
4 The Bloody Tower is associated Yeoman Warders, looks after the birds. A memorial in the moat
with the legend of the two princes com memorates some of the ravens who have died at the Tower since
and other deaths (see p161). the 1950s.

158-159_EW_London.indd 158 21/03/17 2:25 pm