Tower of London (Part 1)

On the day of Opening Ceremonies, I wasn't scheduled to be in until midnight, and would have to work until noon on Saturday.  However, I finished work at about 10:30pm on Thursday, and had to figure out how to switch over to the new work hours.  I tried staying up late, and having a few beers with Rickey before going home, but even going to sleep at 1am, I was still awake by 11:30am.

I decided to go visit the Tower of London, as it is right across the street from my hotel, and then come back and try to sleep some more before going in to watch the Opening Ceremonies at 8pm.

When I got downstairs, I realized that the Olympic Torch was just then making its way up the Thames and under the Tower Bridge, but I couldn't get anywhere near the shore to take pictures because the crowd was so thick.

There was also a multi-cultural food fair going on with little booths from all over, so I had some chinese food for breakfast and then headed over to the Tower, which was suprisingly uncrowded.

Construction on the "White Tower" was begun around 1070AD after William the Conqueror's victory at the Battle of Hastings put him on the throne in England.

The site was already guarded on two sides by the London Wall (built by the Romans around 200AD).  The Tower grounds were designed to be a fortress, not a Palace, and were used for this purpose up until the late 19th century.

The site was expanded and fortified in the early 1200's during the reign of Richard III (while off on Crusade) by his Chancellor William Longchamp.  Richard's brother John often stayed at the tower, and was probably the first king to bring in lions and other exotic animals.  All sorts of exotic animals were kept here for over 600 years until eventually moved to Regents Park (and later the London Zoo) in 1832AD.

John's son Henry III inherited the throne at the age of 9 and the site continued to be fortified during his long reign.  The crown jewels have been stored at the Tower for over 900 years, although the ones currently on display have "only" been around since 1660AD because the original treasures were destroyed with the abolition of the monarchy in 1649AD (and the execution of King Charles I).

Unfortunately, photography is not allowed near the crown jewels, so I can't show you what they looked like, but they are pretty spectacular.  King George IV commissioned a lavish coronation crown designed to be set with 12314 diamonds.  Even the monarchy could not afford the 65,000 pound cost and ended up hiring (renting) the diamonds.  The crown was worn once, for the coronation, and then the diamonds had to be returned.

The Tower also has a long history as an armory, a prison, and even as a place of torture and execution, but somehow I don't think the medieval guards were equipped with machine guns...

In the armory, there are all kinds of weapons and suits of armour, including these two, one of which is for a child (37" tall) and the other is the largest known at 6'8".

The Tower has had an impressive list of famous prisoners, including William Wallace (Braveheart!), and Anne Bolelyn, wife to Henry VIII, who later had her beheaded on the Tower Green (one of only seven executions performed inside the Tower grounds, most were done outside on Tower Hill).

The "Rack" is a torture device that most of us have at least heard of before.  Essentially, it is used to stretch a person from the arms and legs until they are pulled apart at the joints.  Another device, that is probably less familiar, is the Scavenger's Daughter, in which the subject is folded up calves to thighs, and thighs to chest, and then compressed.  This method of torture was supposed to be worse than the rack.

More on the Tower in another post...