The Tower of London

 The Tower of London's website says, "Discover 1000 years of history."  There is a lot to see and learn here!  Unlike most British Museums, The Tower of London is not free.  In fact, it is very expensive.  Make sure you have the time you need to explore it all.  The Beefeater, who are called beefeaters because they used to be payed in beef, give ongoing tours.  Our guide was great, but the group was huge and I had to use my Paris learned crowd skills to make it to the front so that I could hear.

If you ask, they have activity booklets for kids.

 Entrance from the Thames where most prisoners would have entered.

 The castle which later became known as the Tower of London was begun by William the Conqueror in 1066. It began as a timber fortification enclosed by a palisade.  In the next decade work began on the White Tower, the great stone keep that still dominates the castle today.

 View of London Bridge, where prisoners' heads would be put on spikes after their execution.

 The tour guide said that if you were wealthy you could hire a stone mason to do your graffiti.

 Carved by a supporter of Lady Jane.  Her husband was held in this tower before his public execution.

Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudle or The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman and de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553.

The great-granddaughter of Henry VII through his younger daughter Mary, Jane was a first cousin once removed of Edward VI. In May 1553, she was married to Lord Guildford Dudley, a younger son of Edward's chief minister, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. When the 15-year-old king lay dying in June 1553, he nominated Jane as successor to the Crown in his will, thus subverting the claims of his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth under the Third Succession Act. Jane was imprisoned in the Tower of London when the Privy Council decided to change sides and proclaim Mary as queen on 19 July 1553. Jane was convicted of high treason in November 1553, which carried a sentence of death, although her life was initially spared. Wyatt's rebellion of January and February 1554 against Queen Mary I's plans to marry Philip of Spain led to the execution of both Jane and her husband.

Lady Jane Grey had an excellent humanist education and a reputation as one of the most learned young women of her day

This is where Sir Walter Raleigh and his family were held.

 Sir Walter Raleigh was an English explorer, soldier and writer who was imprisoned in the Tower of London and eventually put to death after being accused of treason by James I. Before serving in the Huguenot army in France he studied at Oxford, and became a favorite of Queen Elizabeth after serving in her army in Ireland. He was knighted in 1585, and within two years became captain of the queen's guard. Between 1584 and 1589 he established a colony near Roanoke Island, which he named Virginia. Much of his writings and poetry from this time were destroyed.

 The Queen's House

 Henry VIII's 

armour from when he was a young man.

 Henry VIII's armour from when he was an older, much bigger man.

 The Tower of London is huge and wonders and weirdness abound.  We did not see the crowned jewels because the line was too long and we ran out of time.  We headed back to the train station and caught a late train home.

 The 1000 years of history is a little daunting.  I didn't even touch on the princes in the bloody tower.