Bloody Tower 5 min read
What happened to the Princes in the Tower?
Two boys walked into the Tower in the spring of 1483 and were never seen leaving it. What the record shows, what a box of bones proves, and what nobody can say.
Inner ward
Bloody Tower
The gate tower into the inner ward, once the Garden Tower, renamed for the disappearance of the Princes in 1483. Walter Raleigh spent most of thirteen years imprisoned here.
- Time here
- 15–25 min (our estimate)
- Access
- Not step-free · Spiral stairs
- Where
- Inner ward · indoors
What you can see
- The working portcullis in the gate passage
- Raleigh's study, set out with a writing desk
- The Princes in the Tower display on the upper floor
Practical considerations
- Not step-free
- Spiral stairs
- Low light
- Sound effects
- Queues at peak times
- No lift or ramp; steep spiral stair
- Low light and sound effects inside
- Queues form on the stair at peak times because rooms are small
Checked 10 Sept 2026
Access details from Historic Royal Palaces' accessibility page. Time estimates are ours unless marked official.