7 Formidable Facts About the Tower of London

At nearly 1000 years old, the Tower of London inspires awe, fear, and intrigue. William the Conqueror, who became the first Norman king of England, built the White Tower in 1066 as part of his massive fortress on the River Thames as a symbol of his power. Over the centuries, the structure expanded into 21 towers. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is a landmark in London that millions visit every year.

The fortress has played many roles over the years, serving as a royal palace, a menagerie, a prison, the Royal Mint, and a repository for royal documents and the Crown Jewels. Here are seven facts you may not know about the Tower of London.

1. The Tower of London has held notable prisoners.
2. A Catholic priest escaped the Tower of London in 1597 using invisible ink.
3. The Tower of London once had a zoo that was home to a now-extinct subspecies of Barbary lion.
4. The Tower of London organized a commemoration of World War I with 888,246 poppies.
5. Two 500-year-old skeletons were unearthed under the Tower of London’s chapel in 2019.
6. Beefeaters live in the Tower of London with their families.
7. A superstition claims that if the ravens leave the Tower of London, the kingdom will fall.

The Tower of London has held notable prisoners.

From royals accused of treason and religious conspirators to thieves and even sorcerers, many people have been incarcerated in the Tower of London, but the experiences differed—some were tortured and starved, while others were waited on by servants. And some were executed. Three queens were beheaded at the tower in the 16th century. Elizabeth I was just 2 when her mother Anne Boleyn was condemned to death by her husband, King Henry VIII. The king later beheaded his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. The third rolling regal head was of proclaimed queen Lady Jane Grey, also known as the “nine days’ queen,” who was 17 when she was charged with high treason by Queen Mary I.

Queen Mary also imprisoned her half-sister Elizabeth I in in the tower in 1554, but she escaped the same fate as her mother due to lack of evidence. In 1559, when Mary died, Elizabeth came back to the tower, this time for preparations for her own coronation.

The last execution took place surprisingly recently: It occurred in 1941, when German spy Josef Jakobs faced a firing squad. In 1952, gangster brothers Ronnie and Reggie Kray were among the last prisoners to be detained in the tower.

A Catholic priest escaped the Tower of London in 1597 using invisible ink.

During the reign of Protestant Queen Elizabeth I, the persecution of Catholics led to the incarceration and torture of Jesuit priest John Gerard. His escape is still a wonder—he sent notes to his fellow prisoner John Arden and outside supporters with an invisible ink made of orange juice, which revealed his secret messages when held to a heat source. He later used a rope to get to the boat waiting across the moat. The HBO series Gunpowder depicts this prison break in the second episode.

The Tower of London once had a zoo that was home to a now-extinct subspecies of Barbary lion.

In the 1200s, King John started the royal menagerie in the Tower of London to hold the exotic animals given to him by other monarchs. It became an attraction for Londoners who came to see captive lions and a white bear, who was regularly taken to the Thames to hunt. The menagerie closed in the 1830s and the royal gifts were re-homed in the London Zoo. As a nod to this history, the tower exhibits animal sculptures by artist Kendra Haste.

In 1936, excavations around the moat led to a fascinating discovery: two lion skulls dating to medieval times. Genetic evidence suggests they belong to a subspecies of Barbary lion that once lived in Africa but disappeared a century ago.

The Tower of London organized a commemoration of World War I with 888,246 poppies.

In 2014, 5 million people came to see the art display of ceramic poppies in the tower’s moat, all created by artist Paul Cummins. Each poppy represented a British military fatality in the war. They were sold for £23 million (each individual poppy was £25) to raise money for armed forces charities. However, a controversy arose when newspapers revealed that £15 million of the proceeds went toward costs (Cummins made £7.2 million) while the charities received £9 million.

Two 500-year-old skeletons were unearthed under the Tower of London’s chapel in 2019.

Archeologists found two skeletons, an adult woman and a child, near the same spot where the headless body of Anne Boleyn was also laid to rest. The bones were thought to be buried sometime between 1450 and 1550 and give an insight into the lives of the common folk who lived at the tower in the medieval and early modern eras.

Beefeaters live in the Tower of London with their families.

The Yeoman Warders (also known as Beefeaters) have been guarding the tower since the Tudor era. Clad in a sharp red uniform, these men and women give tours of the fortress. Every night at 9:53 p.m., they lock the tower, a 700-year-old tradition called the Ceremony of the Keys. Beefeaters and their families, around 150 people in total, live in the supposedly haunted Tower of London, and also frequent a secret pub in the fortress.

A superstition claims that if the ravens leave the Tower of London, the kingdom will fall.

According to legend, in the mid-17th century, King Charles II was warned that the Crown would fall if the ravens ever left the Tower of London—so he ordered that six of the birds be kept captive there at all times, as he believed they were a symbol of good fortune. (However, some sources claim this tale is Victorian folklore, while others maintain the legend was created even later, during World War II.) Today, there are seven ravens (one spare) living in the Tower of London, in an aviary on the grounds. The ravens’ primary and secondary wings are trimmed carefully, so they can fly but stay close to home, where they feast on blood-soaked biscuits and meat.

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A version of this story was published in 2020; it has been updated for 2024.