Original subtitles

Narrator: at the heart of England's capital city soars

A mega castle with a dark And mysterious past --

The tower of london.

These remains are related To one of

The most enduring gruesome Mysteries of the tower.

Narrator: today, Investigators race to reveal

Who builds This mighty fortress

And discover Why it transforms

From a defensive Engineering marvel

To an infamous prison Steeped in legend.

This culture of fear Is imbued

Within the very walls Of the building.

Narrator: Throughout the centuries,

The tower of london is a place Of execution and torture,

A royal palace, an armory,

And home to the kings' And queens' crown jewels.

It's not just The enormous diamonds,

The huge amount of gold --

It's the power That they represent.

Narrator: to solve the mysteries Of this iconic castle,

We digitally deconstruct

Its engineering secrets.

We reveal how, For almost 1,000 years,

This fortress Remains impenetrable

For those Trying to get in

And uncover beheaded skeletons Hidden for centuries

To unearth the secrets of The bloody torture tower.

♪♪

The tower of london,

An extraordinary and mysterious Stone castle built

In the heart of england's Capital city.

This engineering marvel Stands tall on

The banks of the river thames.

Today, skyscrapers surround This medieval fortress,

But for almost 1,000 years, The tower is an enduring icon.

We've got the modern city of London surrounding us

With a variety of Very tall buildings.

But when this was built,

This would have been the only Tall building on the skyline.

Narrator: the tower of london Is a fortified citadel.

At its heart is a colossal Solid stone keep,

The stronghold of the castle.

Nearby, a high security Barracks houses

The crown jewels, worth An estimated $5 billion.

Around it, 16 defensive towers And two rings of

25-foot-thick walls Form the castle's

Impenetrable perimeter.

The tower is one of

The most secure mega Structures in the world.

Who builds this mighty Fortress and why?

♪♪

The tower of london Contains over

30 different buildings Within the castle walls,

With hundreds of rooms And halls throughout.

Jane sidell

Is on a mission to unlock The origins of this vast castle.

She searches for clues To its creation

In the oldest and largest of These buildings,

The keep at the center Known as the white tower.

Sidell: the white tower is Absolutely massive.

When compared to the buildings That would have been around it,

It's on an altogether different Order of magnitude.

Narrator: The walls of the keep are

Built using two types of English stones.

But a third stone, the bright White limestone that gives

The tower its distinctive look,

Is not native.

Jane believes that this third Type of stone is

Key to working out The origin of the tower.

Sidell: the exciting thing about The third type of stone is that

Not only does it come From abroad,

It comes from france.

More specifically, It comes from normandy,

And so this gives us a great Clue as to the builders of

The white tower.

Narrator: importing huge amounts Of white limestone

From normandy and france is Extremely expensive.

Jane believes only one person Is rich

And powerful enough to pay for Such a costly construction.

Sidell: This is expensive material.

It's been imported From abroad.

It's a massive building Project -- that leaves us with

William the conqueror as The originator of this material.

Narrator: the french army Invades england in 1066

And kills the saxon King harold

At the battle of hastings.

Their leader, william The conqueror, duke of normandy,

Becomes the new king Of england.

He ships in tens of thousands Of blocks of white limestone

From normandy and starts to Construct a mighty castle in

England's capital.

Why does he build it?

William arrives with around 7,000 men.

England is a country of around Two million people.

After gaining the crown,

William must act decisively To prevent an uprising.

Jane believes this is Why he builds the tower.

Sidell: he needed to dominate The english,

And though he had quite A small army, he was fast,

He was efficient, And so

He created a fortress Extremely quickly.

Narrator: 15-foot-thick stone Walls and a front door

Raised 20 feet off the ground Keep attackers out.

The basement is A 7,000-square-foot store room

That can hold food supplies For around two months,

And the floor above provides

Living space For high-ranking soldiers.

On the second floor is The chapel of st. John

The evangelist.

It is built into the fabric of

The castle so that god may Protect those inside,

While its curved outer walls Deflect enemy missiles.

But can william Hold his grip

On england with this mighty Fortress alone?

Richard nevell heads 26 miles southeast of

The tower of london To hunt for clues.

Perched on the banks of

The river medway in kent lies Rochester castle.

This is another fortress Established by william.

It's strikingly similar To the tower.

Nevell: the castle was founded By william the conqueror in

The mid 11th century as Part of his process of

Conquering england.

Narrator: richard believes Rochester castle

And the tower of london have A surprising connection.

He analyzes The architectural blueprints

Of the two castles for clues.

Here we have the white tower.

We can see that it's based

On this rectangular shape With pilaster buttresses.

And if we look at a plan For rochester,

We can see something similar.

Narrator: both castles are built From the same template.

They're constructed On high ground.

And like the tower of london,

Rochester castle boasts Imposing lookout towers

With turrets And arrow slits.

But above all else, Rochester castle's location on

The banks of the river medway

Proves a key connection To the tower of london.

Nevell: the castle was built Right next to a river,

Which gives really good access.

It would allow them to bring in

The building stone and Potentially soldiers, as well.

You can see that, At the tower

Of london, it's built Right on the riverfront.

Narrator: richard thinks william Establishes castles at both

Locations as part of A wider strategy.

He builds eight strongholds Surrounding london.

Their proximity to each other Means that william's army can

Use them like stepping stones In the event of an uprising.

The tower of london lies At the center of

This castle network.

Each of these was about a day

In terms of travel From the city,

So they could reinforce very Quickly, and they guarded major

Transport routes Towards the capital.

So all of which is About controlling

Who can reach london And keeping people out.

Narrator: Each stronghold

William builds is around A day's march from the capital,

So he can move troops quickly And snuff out any uprisings.

But could the tower have Another purpose besides

Defending his army from any Would-be attackers?

Jane believes the height of The castle holds a clue.

She measures The elevation from

The ground To the upper battlements.

Sidell: the tower is Approximately 90 feet to the top

Of the crenellations, With some additional height

With the towers On the corners.

It would have been Hugely impressive.

Narrator: it's one of The tallest fortresses in europe

At the time it's built.

From the top of the tower, The purpose becomes clear.

Sidell: the white tower Would have been absolutely

Awe-inspiring When it was first built.

It would have been to People that lived in london then

As the shard is To us now.

Narrator: jane thinks that This visibility is key

To william's plan for Controlling his new subjects.

Sidell: william wanted to make His presence felt.

He wanted to subjugate Londoners and the english,

And what better way to do it

Than to build An enormous fortress

In a new architectural style That loomed over everyone's

Houses, Everywhere they lived,

And also their seats of power.

Narrator: william builds This mega fortress as

A symbol of supremacy over The people of england.

The tower soars above The buildings around it.

The freshly cut stone Stands in stark

Contrast to the timber houses Of medieval london.

William's castle network Shows strategic

Planning in his subjugation Of england.

But the majority of His other castles

That circle london are Dilapidated and destroyed.

Has the tower always been

The impenetrable fortress We find today?

And can clues within the tower Reveal its gruesome hidden past?

Narrator: The tower of london --

The iconic fortress Stands tall as

The defensive cornerstone of London for almost 1,000 years.

How does it survive So long?

Jane sidell believes A strange discovery

In the tower's moat May solve this mystery.

Sidell: this is the moat Of the tower of london,

And at the moment, It's a dry ditch,

A green empty space.

A series of exploratory Excavations were undertaken,

And masonry and timber Structures were uncovered,

Which came as quite A surprise.

Narrator: Hidden beneath the ground,

Archaeologists discover 11 large oak timber beams,

Some up to 30 feet long.

The beams surround a giant Carved stonework structure.

Jane believes these are The foundations

Of an old gatehouse.

Why is it buried in the moat?

Tree ring analysis of The beams

Reveals the gatehouse dates From 1240,

200 years after william The conqueror builds the tower.

This means the gatehouse And moat

Are not part of The original building.

All of the evidence collected From the excavations in

The tower from These structures, from

The evidence of the moat, shows That there was a significant

Program of expansion At this date.

Narrator: In 1238, william's white tower

Stands alone on the river bank,

But a new king, Henry iii, orders

A 30-foot-tall wall To surround it

With eight towers That house garrisons

Of archers to defend The castle.

Next, his son edward I Builds a second curtain wall

And digs out a 160-foot-wide

Channel all the way around The outer wall.

He floods it with water To create a moat

To keep the enemy From the gates.

Why do king henry And king edward

Spend so lavishly On new defenses?

Alfred hawkins believes They invest so much

Because the threat of war Looms over them.

Henry iii and edward I Are fighting

Constant wars against The welsh and the scots,

And the threat of french Invasion is ever present.

So this fortress really Is the grip on london,

And it's somewhere To fall back to

If it's ever needed.

Narrator: The kings fear the danger

Posed by new siege weaponry.

Hawkins: henry iii And edward I's

Defenses are Really a reaction to

The changes in medieval Warfare that you can see during

That period.

Narrator: The 13th century sees

The rise of powerful Counterweight trebuchets.

These medieval catapults Can throw

A large rock around 1,000 feet.

Troops can attack a fortress

And keep out of range of Defenders' arrows.

Hawkins: the development of The trebuchets

Completely revolutionized

Siege warfare, so while The tower was a formidable

Fortress in terms of What had come before,

It was largely seen as Out of date by the 1200s.

Narrator: edward is a warring King and fights in bloody

Sieges firsthand.

He knows how new weaponry

Can topple even The toughest fortresses.

Attackers can also scale Castle walls with

Enormous siege towers

So they can fight The defenders hand to hand.

Tunneling beneath A fortress and burning

The support beams can cause The walls above to collapse.

Or the enemy can simply Surround a castle

For months and starve out The people inside.

Edward designs his new Defenses at the tower

Of london to protect against These dangers.

Alfred believes that The second outer wall plays

A key role.

Hawkins: the innermost wall Built by henry iii created

A certain level of defense,

But it wasn't deemed enough By his son edward I,

Who then built These huge fortifications

Around his father's work.

These outer walls Are at a lower height,

Which enables the defenders to Have two vantage points from

Which to repel an attack.

Narrator: the second defensive Wall is an extra barrier

For attackers trying to storm The inner castle compound.

It also puts the inner walls Out of a trebuchet's range,

While the 160-foot moat would Flood any attackers'

Attempts to tunnel underneath.

The defensive fortifications Are key to the tower's

900-year success.

This is still one of the most Impenetrable castles in europe,

Defended by massive walls And great towers.

Narrator: in its near Thousand-year history,

The tower is rarely threatened.

Would-be attackers are Scared away

By its intimidating defenses.

But could new evidence Reveal that after hundreds of

Years of keeping people out,

The tower begins to trap People in?

Narrator: The tower of london.

Its impregnable walls keep Enemies out for centuries,

But does a gruesome discovery Reveal these walls

Are used to imprison Those inside?

In 1674, workers make A macabre discovery.

From 10 feet below The castle foundations,

They pull up A plain wooden box,

And inside, They find two skeletons.

There are no inscriptions Or clues to their identities.

Who are they?

And why are they buried here

In the shadow of The white tower?

This remains one of the most Enduring mysteries of

The tower.

Narrator: alfred hawkins is On a mission to find out.

He believes the dimensions of The skeletons inside

The box offer a clue To their identity.

Within that box were The remains of two children,

And the reason they knew

That they were children was Mostly due to the size of these

Skeletal remains.

While we know that many Children lived at the tower

With their families,

These are the only two Children who have such intrigue

And mystery surrounding Their deaths.

Narrator: Alfred believes the discovery

Of the skeletons Is a vital clue

To one of the biggest unsolved Murder cases in english history,

The famous story of The princes in the tower.

When king edward iv Dies in 1483,

His eldest son, prince edward, Is heir to the throne,

But he is just 12 years old.

The young prince And his brother

Are taken to the tower Of london

To be under the protection of Their uncle, richard.

But three months later, Richard himself is

Crowned king,

And the boys are never Seen again.

While we really don't know What happened to these princes,

The evidence of

Their slow disappearance, Combined with the discovery of

These two collections of Skeletal remains,

Really lead us to think that These two children were

Probably murdered in A political game.

These are two very young And very vulnerable children,

And so their removal Could make way

For somebody else To take power.

Narrator: if the famous princes Are murdered,

There's an obvious suspect -- Their uncle, richard.

Richard stood To gain the power

Of the english monarchy Through

The removal of These two young princes.

Narrator: while this remains A compelling story,

At the time of the discovery,

The evidence that links The children's remains to

The famous princes is Only circumstantial.

The skeletons are laid to rest In westminster abbey.

And with them,

Their mystery remains Buried, too.

Hawkins: despite later Attempts to identify

The skeletal remains,

There has been no definitive Proof that these are the bones

Of the two young princes.

And so, while we can speculate And guess at what happened

During their disappearance,

We really will never know.

Narrator: the true fate of the Famous princes remains unknown.

But could their incarceration Herald the start of

The tower of london becoming The most infamous prison

In england?

Alfred believes Sinister clues may lie

In the tower of london's West wing,

In a building called Beauchamp tower.

Hawkins: behind me Is the beauchamp tower,

Which was constructed by Edward I into the defensive

Fortification we know it As today, however, inside,

There is a lot of evidence to Say that the use of this

Building actually changed Quite dramatically.

Narrator: Inside the beauchamp tower,

Mysterious graffiti covers The inner walls.

Who makes these inscriptions?

And what do they reveal about

The purpose of This imposing fortress?

Alfred inspects the graffiti To decode its hidden meaning.

You can see that has been very Delicately carved into

The walls with a lot of care

Over what is probably A great period of time.

And if we look A little bit closer,

You can make out The words arundel,

And through this, we know that This graffiti is attributed to

Philip howard, The earl of arundel,

Who was imprisoned In the tower by

Elizabeth I around 1589.

Narrator: elizabeth, A protestant queen,

Sees the catholic philip Howard as a threat to

National security

And imprisons him In the tower.

Other graffiti hints at Similar incarcerations,

But of all the different Carvings within

The beauchamp tower, One stands out.

Hawkins: we can see that they Very delicately carved the word

"Jane" and the grey family crest Into this war.

It is attributed to A supporter of lady jane grey,

And although we don't know Who made this carving,

It is one of the most tragic Stories at the tower.

Narrator: lady jane grey, Aged just 15,

Is declared queen By plotters in 1553.

But she is imprisoned in The tower by the eventual queen,

Mary I,

Her rival to the throne Of england.

She is evidence of The tower's new role

As a bloody state prison.

We can see from this evidence That the purpose

Of the tower changed from

Trying to keep people out To actually trying

To keep people in.

Narrator: in its near Thousand-year history,

The tower of london is home to Potentially thousands

Of prisoners.

Can a new discovery Reveal that

These inmates face The ultimate gruesome fate?

Narrator: england's kings Spend lavishly to

Update the tower of London's defenses

And turn it into An inescapable prison,

But a discovery In the tower's chapel of

St. Peter ad vincula could Reveal another more

Sinister role.

Hawkins: underneath the floor Of this chapel,

There is evidence of A very dark past.

Narrator: in 1877, Builders renovating the chapel

Make a shocking find.

Beneath the altar,

They unearth the skeletons Of at least 15 people.

They are men and women, Buried simply,

And many are missing Their skulls.

But one is the complete Skeleton of a young woman

Buried with Her severed head.

Who is the beheaded woman,

And what can her grisly fate Reveal about the tower?

Hawkins: this chapel that is Home to some of the most

Wonderful events at the tower

But also some of our darkest Moments in the history.

Narrator: alfred hawkins Believes the date of

The chapel's construction May hold a clue

To this dark chapter.

St. Peter ad vincula is Constructed in the tower of

London by henry viii In 1520.

Narrator: henry viii Of the tudor dynasty

Is one of england's most Famous rulers.

It's likely the decapitated Woman is killed

During his reign.

Hawkins: using evidence From the tudor period

And through looking At the bones

And observing their slender And perfect proportions

And well-formed jaw lines,

All of these things culminated In the conclusion

That these were the bones of Queen anne boleyn.

Narrator: anne boleyn Is henry's second wife.

Hawkins: they were married as Part of great ceremony in 1533,

Although the relationship Soured when anne couldn't

Provide henry with a male heir.

Narrator: just three years After their marriage,

Henry sends anne to the tower Of london.

Ominously for her,

She arrives through an entrance Known as traitor's gate.

Hawkins: she was accused of Incest, adultery,

And high treason

And was eventually imprisoned In the very

Same apartments where She stayed before her wedding.

Narrator: Anne is tried in the tower of

London's great hall And convicted of treason.

She is beheaded In the tower grounds

To the east of St. Peter ad vincula

And buried with her head Under the chapel floor,

Alongside other high-ranking Members of society.

Hawkins: Despite being found guilty,

And despite her many supposed

Crimes, anne was still Queen of england,

So her burial in here is not Representative of her status

In death -- it's representative Of her position in life.

Narrator: anne boleyn is one of A possible 57,000 victims

Executed by henry viii.

He is perhaps the most Bloodthirsty king

Ever to rule england.

Anne's fate is evidence of The tower's transformation

From bulwark and prison to Place of royal execution.

In the 1300s, The kings of england build

A scaffold on tower hill to Execute most of their prisoners.

Over four centuries,

Hundreds of traitors Are beheaded or hanged here

In front of huge crowds.

They stick the victims' heads On spikes on london bridge

As a gruesome warning to Everyone walking beneath.

Hawkins: you have to imagine That the ordeal of going through

Something like that, Being paraded

In front of these people,

Which must have been Absolutely awful and terrifying

For those people Who are executed there.

Narrator: these gruesome Acts of execution shroud

The tower in a cloak Of darkness.

Memories of Its past prisoners

Live forever In the castle walls,

But the tower is not only Filled with prisoners.

Hundreds of workers Live within its walls

To run the prison And royal residences.

How do people living In the tower at

The time cope with the fear And death that surrounds them?

James wright believes Strange markings

Inside the tower Provide a clue.

Wright: at the queen's house At the tower of london,

We found quite a strange,

Quite enigmatic markings On the timbers.

Narrator: the most common Marking is a tear-shaped

Burn mark found On the door frames

And window ledges -- james Discovers over 50 of them.

It used to be thought that These marks were simply

Unattended candles,

Which had accidentally Scorched the timbers.

However, some really good Experimental archaeology has

Shown that this simply Isn't the case.

Unattended candles leave A much more amorphous blob.

Narrator: james believes these Strange teardrop burn marks

Are man-made.

He uses a candle To test his theory.

Wright: Well, as you can see,

We've got this perfect Tear-shaped burn mark,

Absolutely exactly like the ones That we were finding

In huge numbers At the tower of london.

It's there scorched.

It's taken a few minutes To do,

But it shows that this is A very, very deliberate

Human behavior.

Narrator: who makes These markings and why?

James believes that The location of the marks

Near doors, windows, And chimneys

Is evidence they are Ritualistic practices

To defend against Evil spirits.

Wright: there was a belief That these creatures

Flew around wherever There was a draft,

So wherever the air was, That's how they would get

Into the buildings.

Narrator: james believes The markings most likely

Date to the 16th And 17th centuries.

He thinks they helped The people living in the tower

To cope with the horrors that Fill their daily lives.

Wright: this is a time where The tower of london is starting

To establish Its very grim reputation

As a prison, as a place Of torture and execution.

So you can imagine that The people that are living

There at the queen's house

Are essentially living in a -- Very much a culture of fear.

Narrator: the people living At the tower of london

Feel the darkness Creeping through the building,

And the candle burns

Are the physical Manifestation of that fear.

Though the tower is used

Throughout history To lock up prisoners,

Can this impenetrable fortress Also keep

The crown jewels safe From thieves?

Narrator: The tower of london,

England's most infamous castle.

For centuries, It is a gruesome prison,

Where inmates are tortured And executed.

But today, the tower's thick Walls have another

Purpose altogether.

They safeguard the nation's Most precious treasure,

Guarded day and night.

Multiple surveillance cameras Cover every corner of

The tower.

And an armed guard of highly Trained soldiers keep watch

24-7.

That's because the tower is Home to the crown jewels,

Royal treasures worth An estimated $5 billion.

The st. Edward's crown Is over 300 years old.

It is solid gold

And encrusted with over 400 priceless gemstones.

The gold orb bears over 600 diamonds and pearls,

And at the head Of the scepter is

The largest diamond In the world.

The jewel house is nestled Inside the inner compound,

Directly north of The white tower.

This is the most fortified Location in the entire complex.

But jane sidell believes The crown jewels are guarded

With such high level security

To protect more than just The jewels themselves.

Sidell: it is not just The enormous diamonds,

The huge amounts of gold.

It's the symbols, the potency, The power that they represent.

They represent An unchanging line

Of monarchy That rules the country

And symbolizes stability And authority.

Narrator: the orb, crown, And scepter only leave

The tower on the most Important national occasions,

Like the coronation of queen Elizabeth ii in 1952.

This has happened for Generation after generation

After generation, Stretching back 1,000 years.

The crown is not The same one.

The crown has changed A couple of times,

But the ceremony and the way That the jewels are used

Is unchanged.

Narrator: The tower of london has not

Always been home To the crown jewels.

Records indicate the crown, orb, And scepter are kept in

The palace of westminster,

Three miles up the river Thames, until the 17th century.

Why are they moved to The tower?

Sidell: there were a number of Theft attempts on

The treasure houses at The palace of westminster,

And they needed to be Better protected.

Narrator: but is the tower of London secure enough to

Deter all would-be assailants From stealing the jewels?

Sidell: This is the most defensible

Fortress that you could Possibly find.

There will always be someone Who is crazy enough

To try and make an attempt On the crown jewels,

And there was one such attempt By thomas blood.

Narrator: in 1671, the cunning Thomas blood poses as a priest

And befriends the jewel keeper Over many months.

One evening, blood asks To see the jewels,

But once inside, he attacks The keeper and gags him.

Blood uses a mallet To flatten the crown

While his accomplice Saws the scepter in half

So they can hide The precious collection.

They flee, but guards catch Them before they reach the gate,

And blood is imprisoned In the tower.

The crown jewels have never Been successfully stolen

From the grounds Of the tower of london.

It is An unbreakable fortress.

But can new evidence Reveal the tower holds

Even greater riches than The multibillion-dollar jewels?

Archaeologists Digging into the tower's

Outer ward unearth A surprising stash...

Hundreds of medieval coins Made from silver.

Jane believes engravings On the coins reveal

A clue to why They are here.

Here's an image of one of The coins that's been found

In the excavations, But it's a silver coin.

There's an image of a crown on It and also the name edward

On the outside.

Narrator: the name edward above The crown is evidence

That king edward I Mints this coin.

Edward I is the king

Who builds the second Defensive wall and water-filled

Moat around the tower in 1275

To protect the castle From siege attack.

Alongside the coins, Investigators discover tools

Commonly used by blacksmiths And metal workers.

Sidell: other artifacts Include some of

The ugliest pottery vessels You'll ever find,

But to an archaeologist, They're a real dream,

And these are crucibles -- They're made of clay,

But they have to be very, Very robust,

Because they're used For melting metal.

Narrator: Jane believes these coins

And metal-working tools Are linked.

She thinks this is proof that The nation's money is created

Here in the tower of london.

King edward I uses The tower as the royal mint.

Sidell: when you find These tiny traces,

They look like nothing, but to People trying to unravel

The history of the tower,

They give a very tangible clue As to what's going on.

Narrator: the evidence reveals The tower of london houses

The royal mint for 500 years.

It fills the western,

Northern, and eastern walls Of the fortress.

Safe under the watchful eye of The king in the tower,

It is the perfect place to Store the tons of pure

Silver needed For coin production

And manufacture millions of them To ship across the country.

The tower is steeped in Century-old traditions,

But how does it still serve As a fortress today?

Narrator: The tower of london,

A fortress used by the kings

And queens of england For nearly 1,000 years.

But how does it remain Secure today?

Keeping the tower safe rests On the shoulders of jim duncan.

Duncan: most people think We come here and do a job,

But it is a job, But it's also a way of life.

Narrator: Jim is a yeoman warder.

The yeoman warders work Alongside the tower guard

And tower wardens to ensure The security of the fortress.

They have held This responsibility

For over 500 years.

Duncan: the yeoman warders, As we call ourselves,

Are the oldest body of Formed men

Anywhere, and I mean anywhere, In the world.

We even predate The vatican guard.

Narrator: the yeoman warders Are a group of 37

Men and women drawn from The armed forces.

They are nicknamed beefeaters.

It's rumored that As bodyguard to the king,

They were permitted to eat as Much beef as they wanted

From the king's table.

Today, they guard the tower Of london day and night.

Jim's role within the yeoman Warders is the yeoman jailer.

It's a position that stretches Back over half a millennium.

Duncan: I can date my history Of my particular job back

To 1505 -- Now I stand here

In front of you today, and I am The 49th yeoman jailer at

The tower of london.

I can also tell you That more men and women

Have been into space than have Actually done my job.

Such a unique, honorable role To have here.

Narrator: the yeoman warders are Traditionally based at

The tower of london

In order to guard the reigning King or queen of england.

But the last monarch To reside here is elizabeth I,

Before her coronation In 1559.

So why do the yeoman Warders remain?

Though the royal family No longer lives at the tower,

The crown jewels still do,

So the yeoman warders must Always keep the fortress secure.

Every evening, they lock up The tower in

A tradition called The ceremony of the keys.

It is the oldest Military ceremony

Of its kind Anywhere in the world.

It takes place every single Night at 9:53 p.M.

Duncan: there's a place For the crown jewels

And the royal regalia, So there's

A necessity for security.

This place needs to be secure.

So if you've got doors, You need to lock them.

Narrator: The yeoman warders ensure

The crown jewels stay secure Under lock and key,

As they have done For hundreds of years.

Duncan: It's part of english history,

Part of english tradition.

We want the great public To know what

Goes on here In the tower of london,

So we invite visitors in to

Come and watch that Specific ceremony.

Narrator: continuing traditions Like this into the modern era

Sees the tower retain its Unique slice of history

And remain A functional fortress.

The tower welcomes over Two million visitors

A year from all over The world.

Duncan: I was in the army For 40 years.

During that 40 years, I went around

The world, met a load of Interesting people.

Now I stand In tower green.

The world --

Well, it comes to me to visit This magnificent sight,

The history and traditions of What made this country

What it is.

Narrator: Throughout its long history,

The tower evolves.

Over the centuries, The tower of

London has grown Into a mighty fortress.

It houses england's past kings

And queens and guards The precious crown jewels.

The tower's Medieval traditions keep them

Safe to this day.

But the bodies of the famous Princes and the beheaded remains

Of queen anne boleyn

Reveal a darker side to The tower as a place of

Imprisonment And royal execution.

Throughout history,

This fortress stamps Its mark on the nation

As england's deadliest Mega castle.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪