Youth Truth Travel

The girl’s experience of the Tower of London

Posted on by Youth Truth Travel
Our rating:
3.5/5

We girls share our experience and opinions of the Tower of London, it’s strange how adults seem to love gruesome history!

We both liked the crows! If all the crows left, it’s believed by the monarchs that the place would fall down.  
 
We did not need headsets! The Yeoman gave an excellent historical overview.  His voice pitch changed, he was animated!  So much more engaging than a wonky headset that falls off, hurts your ears or they don’t work.  
 
The Crown Jewels museum was cool and the jewels are so pretty, sparkly and they’d look good on me.  The many knight’s and cavalry armor was extensive and it’s unbelievable how heavy the armor would have been to wear.  It is funny to see how fat King Henry VIII was and how the armor was made to fit his belly.  It was cool that they made a dragon out of armor. 
 
We skipped the chapel where certain monarchs are buried and prisoner towers, but mum and dad went up.  Seeing the torture chamber was creepy and I am so glad I am not subjected to that.  It was very sombre and gross to learn about Lady Jane Grey and the many others who lost their heads.  To stand and think about her experience is just horrible.  
 
There is too much history.   A long day!!!!

Other family outings in London and surrounds: The Borough Market, The Windsor Castle, The NG museum, Harry Potter walking tour

Some other educational/ museum experiences: The NG London, Picasso Museum Spain, Cathedral in Valetta Malta, Malta’s war museum, La Segrada famiglia cathedral Barcelona, Battle house Barcelona, Museum D’Orsay Paris, Barcelona’s Chocolate museum, The Louvrè 

 

Our parents made us put this in:

Parent rating:
5/5

After weeks of visiting cathedrals, museums and other art exhibitions we knew the girl’s were becoming weary of another historical and educational family outing.  However there is a reason why this is rated No.1 for tourist attractions.  It was a perfect way to finish our 6 week Europe vacation learning history.  

Historical facts:

  1. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site – built by William the Conqueror of Normandy in 1066, Normas where viking settlers in northern France.
  2. Sits strategically on the River thames
  3. Infamous for notable beheadings;
    1. The Queen of England Anne Boleyn (1533-1536), King Henry VIII’s 2nd wife
    2. The Queen of England Katheryn Howard (1540-1541), King Henry VIII’s 5th wife
    3. Sir Thomas More, Lord chancellor of England, 1535
    4. Lady Jane Grey, 1554, “9 days Queen” 1554 (Protestant), (under the reign of Queen Mary I, Catholic)
    5. Sir Thomas Wyatt, 1554, (Protestant)
    6. Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, 1601 (under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I) 
    7. Guy Fawkes (1605) whom attempted to blow up the House of Lords
    8. Simon Fraser, 1774, Accused of being a Jacobite
  4. Yeoman wardens guard the Tower and Crown Jewels, His Majesty’s Royal Palace; all retired from British Armed forces, min. 22 years, former warrant officers and hold the long service and good conduct medal. 
  5. Repository for the Royal Crown Jewels
  6.  In 1534, King Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic faith and created the Protestant Church of England (also called the Anglican Church). Henry established the Anglican faith as the official religion of England and made himself and future English monarchs head of the church.  The Pope would not annul his marriage from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon so he did away with the Catholic Church.
  7. King Charle’s coronation: He wore two crowns, St.Edwards crown and the Imperial State crown. Two scepters; the Sovereign scepter with a cross and the Sovereign scepter with a dove. 
  8. St.Edward’s crown dates back to King Charles II and weighs nearly five pounds. “Heavy is the head that wears the Crown.” Queen Elizabeth II
  9. There are two controversial diamonds traditionally used during coronation: The Cullinan I which is in the scepter and related to the violence of the Boer War; The Koh-i-Noor diamond that is traditionally in Queen Mary’s Crown. This diamond was taken from India during British Imperial rule in 1849.  Although Queen Camilla wore Queen Mary’s crown she refused the diamond. The diamond weighs a staggering 105.6 carats. It is believed to bring bad luck to men, so it’s set in the crown of the Queen. ‘It represents a long history of conquest, having passed through Mughal Emperors, Shahs of Iran, Emirs of Afghanistan and Sikh Maharajas,’ according the a spokesperson for the Historic Royal Palaces. (Click here for more)