Tower of London

The Tower Bridge right outside the Tower of London

heavy duty helmet armor that was worn

King Henry VIII's armor 

Imperial State Crown

The Tower of London is another historical building that the government preserves and leaves open to the public as a type of museum for British history. The building that is the “Tower” of the enclosed area was where prisoners were held and traces back to the monarch William the Conqueror. As we walked through the stone rooms I read some of the etchings that were written and carved in the walls. Some of them have been traced back to 1066. It was interesting to see what was written because many of the people imprisoned and executed were guilty or accused of false charges. A couple of them said: “Those who suffer in this life will be closer to God in the next.”  “I shall have justice in God.”

A separate building was a museum of all the torturing devices that were used on their prisoners. It was gut wrenching to see what they really did to human beings. There was a stretching machine that, when cranked tight enough would pull all the bones out of the main joints (arms and legs) and then continue to do internal damage as well. There was a crushing device that went around a crouched body. When the prisoner was in a ball position inside of it it was tightened enough to crush them alive. All of us girls found this exhibit really disturbing, when the two boys in the program were intrigued. In the same area there was an exhibit titled, Fit For a King. On display was five hundred years worth of spectacular royal armor. It gave a fascinating insight into the personalities, power and physical size of England’s kings. The skill of the royal armors was to combine practical protection for tournaments and battle with breathtaking designs and decoration, all fit for a king.

The place of interest for the 37 girls and myself was the display room of the Royal Crown Jewels. Everything on display was designed and created for members of the royal family. The enormous collection is the world’s greatest collection of crown jewels and has been considered priceless symbols of British Monarchy since the 17^th Century (not surprising to me). There are a total of 23,578 gems that make up the entire collection. The Imperial State Crown alone has 2,868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 5 rubies. One of the queen’s scepters had a diamond that was 531 carrots. I’m pretty sure that has got to be the largest diamond in the world, but who knows. All the crowns were really impractical; each one weighed about 30 lbs. The coronation robe was also on display and supposedly weighed about 20 lbs. That would be a heavy out-fit to be worn for an entire ceremony. In my personal opinion it’s a waste to have something worth that much money sitting in a show room and maybe used once a decade. I feel like the money spent on jewels could feed and help an entire country in poverty!