Tower Hamlets
The London borough of Tower Hamlets is adjacent to Central London directly to the east. Most of this borough is really nice, but there is one tiny area (East End/Whitechapel) that seems a little sketch. I probably wouldn’t want to have lodging there, but it is perfectly fine during the day.
Tower of London is an enormous castle built (started) in the 1070’s by William the Conqueror. It was considered the most secure fortress in the land and therefore was used to guard not only the royal families through the centuries, but also the crown jewels (which we saw, but could not photograph). Tower of London has some good Henry VIII history for the Henry VIII fans out there (Vicki!)
There was a room/museum FULL of armor including that of Henry the VIII (complete with penis armor!! Man was that guy arrogant!!)
There was a small area that showed some of the torture devices. Specifically the “rack” where they just attach all four limbs and keep pulling you apart. Anne Askew (friend and mentor to Catherine Parr - Henry VIII’s 6th wife) was the only woman tortured at the tower. After being tortured on the rack and completely crippled/unable to walk, she was burned at the stake. All for her religious beliefs and for refusing to give up the names of others (including Catherine Parr)
Most famous is the imprisonment tower and tower yard where executions took place! We saw TONS of carvings in the tower walls made by prisoners throughout the years and the location where the beheadings occurred – including Henry VIII’s wives Ann Bolyn and Catherine Howard. Also beheaded on this site were 16 year old Lady Jane Gray (queen for 9 days) and Sir Thomas Moore (Henry VIII’s lord chancellor who refused to accept Henry as the head of the church). The location is marked with a large round memorial that has all the names of those executed there.
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