12 Things You Didn’t Know About the Tower of London

The Tower of London has earned its place in British history and has seen many Kings and Queens come and go.

It’s that big fortress by the Thames where kings locked people up and ravens hang around like they own the place. But behind those stone walls are stories that don’t make it onto the souvenir tea towels. Like the prisoner who carved secret symbols into his cell. Or the royal polar bear that used to go fishing in the river. Or the hidden tunnels that once buzzed with wartime whispers.

This is the Tower seen from a different angle. The bits your history teacher probably skipped. So if you’ve ever wondered what the Tower was like beyond the executions and crown jewels, come take a look. We’re diving into the unexpected side of one of Britain’s most famous landmarks.

Curious Corners and Forgotten Tales from Inside the Tower

The Tower has seen it all. Wild animals pacing behind the walls. Royal coins struck in secret. Even ghosts, if you believe the stories whispered after dark. But some of the most fascinating bits are hidden in plain sight. 

The Tower’s Execution Toll

Despite its bloody reputation, the Tower wasn’t the nonstop death trap people think it was. Over nearly a thousand years, just 22 recorded executions actually took place within the Tower walls. Most executions happened outside on Tower Hill, where the public could gather and watch. That was the whole point. It was meant to be a warning. But when someone was executed inside the Tower, it usually meant they were high profile or politically dangerous. Think queens and traitors, not everyday prisoners.

Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Grey were all executed behind the walls in private. A scaffold was set up on Tower Green, and witnesses were carefully chosen. It was quieter, more controlled, and far from the shouting crowds. The last person to be executed inside the Tower was a German spy during World War II. Josef Jakobs was shot by a firing squad in 1941. 

Hidden Tunnels

Beneath the Tower lies a network of tunnels that have kept their secrets well. They’re not part of the usual visitor path, and most people don’t even know they exist. Some date back centuries. Others were added during World War II when the Tower was put to work as a secure communications hub and air raid shelter. Messages were sent. Orders were given. The past and present overlapped underground while bombs fell over London.

There’s also a newly discovered labyrinth of tunnels beneath the Salt Tower, revealed just over a year ago. They were likely used to move troops and equipment quietly around the site. No one’s calling them escape tunnels, though. The high water table and surrounding moat would have made tunneling out a soggy nightmare. Still, the fact that we’re still uncovering hidden parts of the Tower says a lot. This place doesn’t give up all its secrets at once.

Prisoners’ Graffiti

Walk through the Tower’s cold stone chambers and look closely at the walls. Many tell stories, scratched in by hand centuries ago. They were carved by the imprisoned, the accused, the forgotten.

Some were political rebels. Others were religious dissenters. A few simply fell foul of the wrong monarch.

• Hew Draper, a Bristol innkeeper accused of sorcery in 1561, left behind one of the most intricate graffiti pieces: an astrological chart with Latin inscriptions, etched into his cell wall in the Salt Tower.
• Jesuit priests, locked up during Elizabeth I’s reign, carved crosses, prayers, and coded symbols to hold onto faith while awaiting their fate.
• The Beauchamp Tower, in particular, is a gallery of these desperate names, coats of arms, and even poems.

Exotic Inhabitants

What began in the 1200s as a royal curiosity grew into a full-on menagerie. Kings exchanged animals as diplomatic gifts, and the Tower became home to beasts most Londoners had only heard about in myths.

• In 1252, Henry III was gifted a white bear by the King of Norway, probably a polar bear. It was chained but allowed to swim and fish in the Thames under the watch of its keeper.
• An elephant arrived in 1255, sent by Louis IX of France. A special house was built for it near the western entrance, but it died within two years, likely from the cold.
• Lions were a permanent fixture. Edward I constructed a Lion Tower to display them. They became such a symbol of power that lions appeared on the royal crest.
• By the 18th century, the menagerie had grown to include monkeys, ostriches, and even a grizzly bear, Old Martin, gifted by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1811.

The menagerie was eventually moved to the newly established London Zoo in 1835. But traces remain, including stone carvings, archive sketches, and records of animals that once prowled, flapped, and growled within fortress walls.

The Moat Has Had Multiple Uses

The Tower of London’s moat wasn’t always filled with water. Over the centuries, it has served some very practical and occasionally surprising purposes.

By the 1840s, the moat was drained for health reasons. The stagnant water had become a breeding ground for disease and unpleasant smells. Once dry, the space was too valuable to leave unused.

• By the 1890s, the sunny south moat had been turned into an allotment, with vegetables grown by Tower staff and soldiers. It was an early glimpse of what would come decades later. Meanwhile, the rest of the moat was used by grazing livestock. Sheep and goats kept the grass neat and added a rural touch to one of the city’s most famous strongholds.
• In 1897, for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, the moat was transformed into a military encampment. Soldiers camped out to celebrate her 60-year reign, turning the old defensive ditch into a patriotic showground.
• During World War II, as part of the Dig for Victory campaign, the Tower’s moat again became a site for growing food. With rations tight, every patch of earth in London counted.

The Byward Tower’s Secret

Most visitors pass through the Byward Tower without giving it much thought. Built in the 13th century under Henry III, it stands guard at the main entrance to the Tower of London. But upstairs, away from the crowds, there’s something you won’t see on a typical tour.

Inside sits one of the Tower’s rarest medieval treasures, a wall painting from the late 1300s. The scene once showed the Crucifixion in full, but a later fireplace installation destroyed the figure of Christ. What remains are delicate images of the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist, mourning beneath the cross. You’ll also find St John the Baptist and the Archangel Michael on either side.

Look closer, and it gets even more interesting. The background is filled with unexpected details, parrots, lions, and fleur-de-lis patterns, all painted with surprising intricacy.

The painting isn’t open to the public. It’s fragile, tucked away in a space that few ever see. In 2011, conservation scientists used light-based scanning to study it in more detail without causing damage.

The Tower’s Mint

For centuries, the Tower of London wasn’t just a fortress or a prison. It was also the heart of England’s coin production.

From 1279 to 1812, the Royal Mint operated within the Tower walls. Keeping the Mint inside such a heavily guarded stronghold protected the nation’s currency from theft, tampering, and counterfeiting.

It began when Edward I ordered all coin production to be centralized in the Tower. Over time, a series of purpose-built mint buildings were added, mainly near what’s now Mint Street, just outside the Inner Ward.

Some of the most significant coinage reforms in English history took place here. Under Henry VIII, the debasement of coinage was carried out from within the Tower. During the reign of Charles II, Britain’s coinage moved from hammered to milled coins, a major step forward in security and standardisation.

The Mint eventually moved out in 1812 to more modern premises on Tower Hill. Today, little remains of the Mint buildings inside the Tower complex, but the story lives on—one of industry, innovation, and tight security, all behind the same ancient walls that once held royal prisoners.

The Ceremony of the Keys

Every night at exactly 9.53 pm, a man in a red Tudor coat and tricorn hat walks through the Tower of London with a lantern in one hand and the King’s Keys in the other. He’s the Chief Yeoman Warder, and he’s carrying out a tradition that hasn’t missed a single night in over 700 years.

The Ceremony of the Keys is the official locking-up of the Tower. It’s been done without fail, even during the Blitz. The only time it was ever delayed was one night in 1941 when bombs fell nearby and the Chief Warder was knocked off his feet. He got up, dusted himself off, and completed the ceremony. He later wrote a letter of apology to King George VI for being late.

The ritual is short and precise. The Warder is challenged by a sentry who asks, “Who comes there?” The reply is, “The keys.” Then comes the official exchange: “Whose keys?” “King Charles’s keys.” Permission is granted, and the Tower is locked for the night.

The ceremony began when securing the fortress meant protecting the crown’s most valuable assets. It’s still taken seriously, even in the age of electronic locks.

Visitors can apply in advance to witness the ceremony in person. Tickets are free but must be booked months ahead. 

Ravens’ Residency

No one knows exactly when the Ravens arrived. Some say they were first kept there during Charles II’s reign. When his astronomer, John Flamsteed, complained that the birds were interfering with his telescopes, Charles supposedly refused to remove them. Instead, he moved the Royal Observatory to Greenwich and ordered that at least six ravens be kept at the Tower at all times.

That tradition has never been broken. Today, there are usually seven ravens, six required by the legend and one spare, just in case. They each have names and personalities. Some are known for stealing biscuits, others for playing dead to avoid work. If a raven misbehaves, it can be dismissed. One, named Grog, was sent to a zoo in 1981 for repeatedly leaving the grounds.

The Ravenmaster, a dedicated Yeoman Warder, cares for them daily. Their wings are slightly clipped to discourage long flights, but they live freely around the Tower, fed a diet of raw meat and blood-soaked biscuits.

Whether you believe the legend or not, the ravens are as much a part of the Tower’s story as the stones themselves. They’ve watched centuries of history unfold from their perches, and they’re not leaving anytime soon.

Discovery of Two Bodies

In 1674, workmen renovating the White Tower made a grim discovery. While dismantling a staircase near the chapel, they uncovered a wooden box buried beneath. Inside were the skeletons of two children.

The remains were found roughly where medieval accounts suggested the missing princes might have been buried. Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, were last seen in 1483. Their uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, had placed both in the Tower. Shortly after, Richard took the throne as Richard III, and the boys were never seen again.

The discovery in the 17th century sparked immediate speculation. Charles II ordered the bones to be placed in an urn and interred in Westminster Abbey. No formal investigation was conducted at the time. In 1933, the bones were examined again. Analysis showed they belonged to two boys around the right ages, but no conclusive identification was made.

To this day, their fate remains one of the Tower’s most enduring mysteries. Were they murdered? If so, by whom? Richard III? The Duke of Buckingham? Henry VII, after taking the throne?

The urn remains sealed in the Abbey, and requests for further testing have been denied. The truth is still buried with them.

The Tower’s Chapel

Tucked inside the Tower grounds, behind the execution site on Tower Green, sits the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula. It’s quiet, unassuming, and easy to overlook, but it holds some of the Tower’s darkest stories.

This chapel is the burial place of some of the most famous names in English history. Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Grey were all laid to rest here after their executions, just steps away. So were Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell. Most were buried hurriedly, without ceremony, beneath the stone floor.

The current chapel dates from the Tudor period and was rebuilt in 1520 after a fire. It’s still an active place of worship, used by the Tower’s residents and Yeoman Warders. Visitors on guided tours can step inside and see the simple brass markers that name those buried beneath the stone tiles.

For centuries, the identities of those interred remained uncertain. In 1876, Queen Victoria ordered renovations and allowed limited exhumations. Some remains were identified and reinterred with dignity, including Anne Boleyn’s.