TOWER OF LONDON

 One of the Capital's most significant buildings. In the early 1080s, William the Conqueror began to build a massive stone tower at the centre of his London fortress. Nothing like it had ever been seen before. His nobles subsequently built castles across the land, and it was these places that enabled the Norman kings to keep their grip on England.

Through the centuries that followed, successive monarchs added to the fortifications. Long used as a Royal Prison, it has seen some very historical figures indeed pass through its' Traitor's Gate for either imprisonment, or ultimately, beheading.

It is also the secure fortress wherein the Crown Jewels are kept, and the Royal Armoury, and was once the home of the Royal Mint, and the King's Menagerie.

The Monarchs' personal bodyguards, the Yeoman Warders, more usually called the 'Beefeaters', are the guardians of this remarkable place. They are drawn from retired members of the armed forces, who have reached the rank of Sergeant Major or above, and who live with their families within the walls. These Yeoman Warders also conduct guided tours when the tower is open to the public.

Other regiments take their turn in assisting the Yeoman Warders with their tasks. Hence the pictures of the Guards regiment here:

No article about the Tower of London is complete, without a mention of their most famous residents - The Ravens.

The Ravens of the Tower of London are a group of at least six captive ravens resident at the Tower of London. Their presence is traditionally believed to protect the Crown and the Tower; a superstition holds that "if the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it."

After a successful breeding season, there are currently 9 ravens. 

Charles II is thought to have been the first to insist that the ravens of the Tower be protected after he was warned that the crown and the Tower itself would fall if they left. The King's order was given against the wishes of his astronomer, John Flamsteed, who complained the ravens impeded the business of his observatory in the White Tower.

I'm not spending too much time on the various aspects of this fortress, as to really appreciate its almost 1,000 years of history, and all that has passed in that time, you really do need to spend a day there and take it all in.