Middle Tower and the entrance 4 min read
A polar bear in the Thames
For six hundred years the entrance to the Tower was guarded by lions, and in the 1250s a white bear from Norway was let out on a rope to fish in the river.
Entrance
Middle Tower and the entrance
Where every visit begins: the outer gatehouse on the site of the medieval Lion Tower, crossed by a causeway over the dry moat.
- Time here
- 5–15 min (our estimate)
- Access
- Step-free · No stairs
- Where
- Entrance · outdoors
What you can see
- The dry moat, once a stinking tidal ditch, now grass
- Kendra Haste's galvanised-wire lions on the site of the old Lion Tower menagerie
- The arms of George I over the arch (the tower was refaced in the 1710s)
Practical considerations
- Step-free
- No stairs
- Queues at peak times
- Ticket scanning and bag checks happen here; allow 10–30 minutes at busy times
- No re-entry once you leave the Tower
Checked 10 Sept 2026
Access details from Historic Royal Palaces' accessibility page. Time estimates are ours unless marked official.