Dear Luke and Leia,
Today, our third day in London, is the Tower of London, a Royal Castle dating back to late 1066 and was a castle key to controlling the country. The Tower was also the most important royal prison in the country, famous for the Traitor’s Gate and the Beefeaters.
The Tower of London
The Tower is quite impressive and is located along the Thames river on ground known as Tower Hill. It makes it a great place for the royal family to live safely. Inside is not only the palace, but also living quarters for the people of the time.
Moat around the tower walls is now beautiful green grass
Around 1189 to 1190 the moat was dug around the castle to increase the protection and they also expanded the size under the direction of Richard the Lionhearted. The most famous seige was done around 1214 which forced the signing of the Magna Carte, which is the basis of our laws today.
A replica catapult in the moat area.
We enjoyed seeing some of the old weapons used around the time of the building of this fort. Is the now grass green moat we saw a replica of a catapult that would hurl heavy stones to break down doors and walls during battles.
Beefeater tour guide
We have a charming gentlemen, part of the Yeomen Warders commonly known as the Beefeaters, who gave us our tour of the Tower of London. He entertained us with jokes as well as filling us with history of the Tower as we walked the grounds.
Homes inside the walls
I loved the half-timbered homes that were inside the Tower walls. These homes were laid out on a square with plenty of park grounds to sit and rest or enjoy the festivities.
Courtyard along Waterloo Barracks.
Waterloo Barracks was a beautiful building located within the walls and upon the central square. This castellated neo-gothic style building replaced the original storehouse destroyed by fire in 1841 and the foundation stone was laid by the Duke of Wellington
Changing of the guard.
We stayed long enough for watch the British Royal guards perform a ceremony. In their bright red uniforms and bear skin hats they marched along the barracks for all to watch.
The infamous Traitor’s Gate water entrance into the Tower of London
This is the infamous Traitor’s Gate entrance into the Tower of London, It was the way you entered Tower of London complex from the Thames and forms part of St. Thomas’ Tower, which was built to provide additional royal accommodation.
Role players entertaining visitors.
On the other side of the central square there were role playing entertainers making fun of the visitors. They tried to get the people watching to understand the lifestyle that took place within the walls in earlier times. They were quite funny
Original Roman wall within the complex.
As we wound up the tour we saw part of a wall built during Roman times when the city was known as Londres to the Roman empire. Part of the wall was incorporated into the tower defenses by William the Conqueror.
Well, it is off to an early dinner as we have a long flight tomorrow to our new home in Panama. We will write to you from a new country next time.
Hopefully we will be seeing you soon.
Love,
Nana and Pap
Walls of the Tower of London.
Iconic guard standing duty.
Walking the walls of the Tower of London.
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