How this site decides what to say

Sources

Operational facts (prices, hours, tour times, access details) come from Historic Royal Palaces' official pages and from the provider's own product listing for third-party tours. Historical stories are researched from HRP's history pages, the Royal Armouries, national archives and published scholarship; each story lists its sources. We do not copy text from any of them.

Fact, disputed, legend

Every story ends with a section that sorts its claims:

• Fact supported by the cited sources.
• Disputed historians disagree, or the evidence is incomplete.
• Legend a good story with no reliable source; we tell it and say so.

We do not invent quotations, interviews, eyewitness accounts or first-hand experiences. Every factual claim was checked against the source cited on the date shown.

Verification dates and review

Each time-sensitive item records the source, the date it was last checked, who checked it and, where useful, a next-review date. Dates are only updated when a person re-checks; nothing updates them automatically. Our review policy treats a fact as due for review after: prices 60 days, opening hours 45 days, tour schedules 60 days, access details 180 days, notices 14 days. Past those limits the site prints a qualifier next to the fact and asks you to confirm with the provider.

Commercial independence

Rankings on the tickets page are by visitor fit. Official tickets earn no commission and are listed first whenever they are the best choice. No provider pays for placement, and there is no display advertising in the planning or booking journey. Affiliate disclosure.

Corrections

If we have something wrong, tell us at info@toweroflondontour.com. Corrections to stories are noted at the foot of the story with the date; corrections to operational facts update the verification date.

This website's accessibility

The site is built to WCAG 2.2 AA: keyboard navigation, visible focus, semantic headings, labelled forms with clear errors, a text list for everything on the map, transcripts for any audio we publish, reduced-motion support and comfortable touch targets. Planner and visit updates are announced to screen readers. This is separate from physical access at the Tower, which is described on the visit guide from HRP's own information.

Image credits and rights register

Every photograph and artwork on the site is listed here with its origin, creator, licence and the use we make of it. Public-domain artworks and later paintings are shown as illustrations, never as records of a visitor route.

Source register

Every source cited on the site, with the date we last read it.

1. How Ravens Came to the Tower of London, Boria Sax, Society & Animals (2007), accessed 10 Sept 2026.
2. Accessibility — Tower of London, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Jewel House level access with travelator; platform lift into the Chapel Royal (ask the Yeoman Warder); White Tower lift serves basement shop only; no lift or ramp to Battlements, Bloody Tower or Imprisonment exhibition; low light in Jewel House, Battlements, Bloody Tower, Torture exhibition; toilets at Brick Tower, Salt Tower, Cradle Tower; quietest after 13:00; no re-entry; free carer ticket; free wheelchair loan, not bookable.
3. Anne Boleyn, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Coronation lodging May 1533; Elizabeth born 7 Sep 1533; no undisputed lifetime portrait survives; buried in the Chapel Royal.
4. Audio guide tour, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Adult £5, concession/child £4, family £14; 13 languages; Highlights tour at least 2 hours; Family tour English only; Imprisonment tour 25 min with step-free version; collect from the Beefeater Shop past the entrance; free Highlights-only web guide on your own device.
5. Charles II and the Discovery of the 'Princes in the Tower' in 1674, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026.
6. History of the Line of Kings exhibition, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026.
7. The Ceremony of the Keys and Other Tower Traditions, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Edward III December 1340; Mary I 1555 orders; Wellington 1826 fixed 10pm; 29 Dec 1940 cancelled; 21:53 start from the Byward Tower; escort at the Bloody Tower; 'God preserve King Charles'.
8. The Crown Jewels, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Included in admission; 'allow one hour'.
9. The Crown Jewels, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. At the Tower since the 1660s; St Edward's Crown 1661; Imperial State Crown 1937; Cullinan I 530.2 carats; 9 May 1671 Blood attack on Talbot Edwards; pardon and Irish lands £500 a year.
10. The Princes in the Tower: murdered or survived?, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Edward IV died 9 April 1483; Edward V aged 12, Richard aged 9; placed in the Tower by Gloucester; never seen alive again; 1674 bones beneath a White Tower staircase; 1933 re-examination.
11. The Ravens, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Legend of six ravens; Charles II 'thought to have been the first' to protect them against Flamsteed's complaint; lodgings on the South Lawn; current names; diet; feather trimming; absconders Munin, George, Grog.
12. The story of the Tower of London, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Built 1070s, about 20 years, Caen stone, English labour; Henry III and Edward I curtain walls; keep whitewashed 1240; Mint until 1810; defences failed once, 1381.
13. The Tower of London and the Second World War, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Closed at the outbreak; Crown Jewels hidden at Windsor; Prisoner of War Collection Centre from 3 Sep 1939 in the Old Hospital Block, New Armouries and Main Guard; moat allotments; 5 Oct 1940 North Bastion destroyed.
14. The Tower of London as a prison, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Flambard 1101 first prisoner and escapee; Jakobs 15 Aug 1941 last execution; Anne Boleyn 'Shall I go into a dungeon?'; French swordsman, single blow; Elizabeth arrived 17 March 1554 over a drawbridge, released 19 May; Guy Fawkes held in the Queen's House; Jane Grey beheaded within the walls 12 Feb 1554 aged 17.
15. The Tower of London Menagerie, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. 1235 'leopards' from Frederick II; 1252 white bear from the King of Norway fishing in the Thames; 1255 elephant from the King of France; Edward I's Lion Tower; Cops 1822; Wellington 1826; closed 1835.
16. Tickets and prices — Tower of London, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Adult £37.00, child (5–15) £18.50 excluding optional 10% donation; members free; £1 tickets for named benefits and Tower Hamlets residents; Keys Club, Ravens and Opening Ceremony upgrades.
17. Tower of London Opening Ceremony experience, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Daily until 30 Sep 2026; 08:45 Tue–Sat, 09:45 Sun–Mon; meet Middle Drawbridge on the Wharf; 50 tickets/day, max 6 per booking; Adult £62.00, Child 5+/16–17 £33.50, Concession £49.50, under-5s free; includes admission and Crown Jewels; no refunds for late arrival.
18. Visit the Tower of London, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Opening hours, last entry, last Yeoman Warder tour, 'allow at least two hours', audio guide from £5.
19. Yeoman Warder tours, Historic Royal Palaces, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Included in admission; every 45 minutes; first tour 10:00 Tue–Sat, 10:45 Sun–Mon; last 15:15; start near the main entrance / Bell Tower; 21 steps and cobbles; English only; may be cancelled in poor weather or crowds; cannot be pre-booked.
20. The Fakelore of the Tower Ravens, JSTOR Daily, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Summarises Geoffrey Parnell's finding (reported in The Guardian, 15 November 2004) that no record places ravens at the Tower before the 1880s.
21. The Hew Draper graffito tablet, LASSCO, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Inscription 'HEW DRAPER OF BRISTOW MADE THIS SPEER THE 30 DAYE OF MAYE 1561'; Salt Tower; accused of sorcery against Sir William St Loe and his wife.
22. History of the Tower Armouries, Royal Armouries, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Line of Kings and Spanish Armoury established after 1660; horses carved by Grinling Gibbons and John van Nost; moved to a new gallery in 1826.
23. Graffiti at the Tower of London, Spitalfields Life, accessed 10 Sept 2026.
24. Attempt to steal the Crown Jewels, The National Archives, accessed 10 Sept 2026.
25. The daring Jacobite wife who saved her husband from death at the Tower of London, The Scotsman, accessed 10 Sept 2026.
26. Lady Winifred Maxwell: biography, Undiscovered Scotland, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Captured at Preston Nov 1715; escape on the eve of execution, Feb 1716; maid Evans; the 'Nithsdale cloak' at Traquair House; exile in Rome.
27. Early Access Tower of London, Crown Jewels & Thames River Cruise, Viator, accessed 10 Sept 2026. 4h45; from €93.60; first access to the Crown Jewels then a one-way Thames cruise and Westminster walk; Walks; not wheelchair accessible.
28. Early Access Tower of London: Crown Jewels and Beefeater Ceremony, Viator, accessed 10 Sept 2026. 1 hour; from €82; City Wonders UK; max 27; meets at the ticket office; no guiding inside Jewel House or White Tower; not wheelchair accessible; free cancellation 24h.
29. Private Tour of The Tower of London, Viator, accessed 10 Sept 2026. 3 hours; from €324 (varies by group size); Blue Badge guide; meets at the welcome centre, 2b Tower Hill; admission included per itinerary; 'Let me show you London'; free cancellation 24h.
30. Tower of London After Hours Tour with Beefeater & Keys Ceremony, Viator, accessed 10 Sept 2026. 1h30; from €188; 20:30 start; meets at the Tower of London Shop, Tower Place West; grounds only, no Crown Jewels or interiors; other public groups join the Ceremony; full names required; Walks; free cancellation 24h.
31. Tower of London and Crown Jewels Exhibition Day Ticket (supplied by Historic Royal Palaces), Viator, accessed 10 Sept 2026. From €43.84; free cancellation 24h; the same HRP admission resold.
32. Tower of London Tours and Tickets, Viator, accessed 10 Sept 2026. Listing prices observed in EUR on 10 Sep 2026; 'Revenue may affect this sort order' shown on the listing.
33. VIP Tower of London and Crown Jewels Tour with Private Beefeater Meet & Greet, Viator, accessed 10 Sept 2026. 3 hours; from €117.30; 08:45 start; meets outside Starbucks, 3 Tower Place; early-morning timed tickets; private audience with a Beefeater; admission included; not wheelchair accessible; LetzGo City Tours; free cancellation 24h.