LONDON! Day 10: White Tower

The White Tower is located inside the Tower of London. Originally built as a fortress, it's been a royal home, a military outpost, a prison and now a museum.

It's a rather impressive structure. You can imagine the sort of awe it would have inspired when it was built in 1075. The basement would have been for storage. The first and second floors for military and servants, while the top floors were reserved for the nobility and their families. The entrance was onto the second floor and held items from the Royal Armoury.

Up stairs and around, we get to see more items from days gone by.

Wouldn't want to go up against this guy! There was also a display showing the largest and smallest sets of knights' armour. They even had a certificate from Guinness Book of Records to authenticate their status.

These really don't need a label, do they? But I was never one for brevity. The axe was once thought to be the one that beheaded Anne Boleyn but that can't be the case, as she was beheaded by a sword. And the block was the one used in the last beheading at the Tower of London in 1747. Eerie.

There was an odd feeling in the White Tower, like there were more people around you than there actually were but I've always been pretty superstitious. Perhaps it was also the fact that the place has such a sinister reputation. While walking up the stairs to the entrance, we passed an open door that showed a staircase with a plaque on it. The plaque said that this was believe to be the place where two small skeleton were found, buried in secret. Those skeletons are widely thought to be the remains of an uncrowned king, Edward V, and his younger brother. They were sent to the White Tower in 1483 before they were teenagers - disposed by Richard III - and were never heard from again.