I remember enjoying myself very much at the Tower of London when I visited as a 14-year-old, and I found that I still feel that way about I now. However, there is much more to see inside of it than I ever knew! There are so many different towers that make up “The Tower” that I can scarcely keep track of them, and I regrettably did not have the time to look at all of them. But I still managed to gain a wealth of information during the visit, both about the complex itself, and about the various objects and individuals that formerly or currently call the complex home as well.
The first stop was the vault containing the Crown Jewels, and I mean that literally. There was an impressive, bank vault-style door close to the start of the exhibit, which, combined with an employee’s inability to tell me anything about how the Jewels are preserved and cared for, tells me that the security of these national symbols is an utmost priority. The opulence of the crowns and other accoutrement involved in the UK’s coronations displayed the outstanding wealth of the kingdom’s monarchy, as well as its longevity. A majority of artifacts in the collection were made and used during the reign of King Charles II, the first king to reign after the execution of Charles I and the following disbandment of the monarchy, and are still in use nearly four centuries later! Though, a significant number of the most famous jewels in the various crowns and regalia were obtained during colonial occupation (of India, most specifically) and subsequently make them remnants and even symbols of English colonialism.
After that, I drifted over to the Fusilier’s Museum, which regaled the creation of a British infantry regiment of the same name in the late 1600s, and told the story of their involvement in conflicts ranging from the American Revolutionary War to very recent military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. I found the collections of weapons, both those native to the UK and those captured from enemies, fascinating; more importantly, it made me realize just how much military action the UK has taken part in, apart from the Revolutionary War and the two World Wars that I know from history classes back home.
I took a moment to look at the now-famous ravens of the Tower, and then headed up into a smaller tower making up a corner of the wall that divides the inner ward of the complex from the outer ward: the Salt Tower. Built in the late 1230s, and restored in 1857-8, this tower held a variety of prisoners in its upper room over the centuries, many of whom were Catholics based on the carvings left in the stone walls. One of those contained within the room was one Hew Draper, whose description on the informational placard caught piqued my interest.
“Hew, a respectable inn-keeper from Bristol, was accused of practicing sorcery against the courtiers Sir William and Lady Elizabeth St Loe (better known as Bess of Hardwick). Hew denied the charge, although he admitted involvement in sorcery in the past. He claimed he had burned all his magic books. He left, however, a detailed astrological carving here on the wall of his cell.”
Looking at the aforementioned carving, I was thoroughly impressed at the amount of precision and detail present in it (even after being worn down since 1561). Even more admirable is the fact that this diagram and the accompanying grid must have been wrought from memory, given that Hew was a prisoner at the time and not likely to have access to astrological books.
From there I sauntered across a portion of the inner wall of the complex, learning about the defensive strategies of soldiers that lived there and the only successful breaching of the Tower along the way, and then headed over to view the White Tower at the center of the complex. It was certainly interesting to note the architecture of the building, and learn how different eras in British history (Norman, Stuart, Hanoverian, etc.) saw the various rooms of the White Tower used for different purposes. But my favorite part of the White Tower was the building-spanning collection of arms and armor maintained by the Royal Armouries organization! There were suits of armor meant to represent a line of England’s kings, various equipment gifted to royalty by other nations as diplomatic gifts, firearms seized from citizens during the UK’s buyback scheme of 1991, and a basement storeroom filled with racks upon racks of old standard-issue military equipment like muskets, sabers, and cannons!
With my museum itch scratched (and my feet starting to ache), I made my way from the Tower of London to the King’s Cross St. Pancras tube station to meet with a friend of my mother at a nearby hostel she was staying at. She is Dr. Kay J. Walter, a professor of English at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and we had a nice, if a but late, lunch at a pub called The Rocket that was close by. The drink was good, the food was decent, and the conversation was excellent, covering topics ranging from brain drain in rural areas (and the Southern United States in general) to recent events at UAM involving a Fulbright Scholar. She is a very nice lady, and I’m glad that we met and began a new friendship together!
It was a busy but fulfilling day, and, with the issues with my debit card cleared up (or so I thought at the time), I was beginning to relax and let myself enjoy my new surroundings!
Theatre in London U of A 