Day 18: Off With Their Heads!

  Today the four of us piled into a black taxi to visit the Tower of London, or Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress as it is officially named. The Tower was originally a royal residence, but has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, the home of the Royal Mint, a public records office, and is currently the Queen's private safety deposit box containing the Crown Jewels. The famous Crown Jewels seem to be what everyone talks about, and they are amazing. What fascinated me though was it's history as a prison and execution site.

  Not as many prisoners as you might think were executed within the Tower's walls. Most were marched up to Tower Hill to meet their fate before the masses. A lucky few were afforded the privilege of having their sentence carried out with an audience of peers. Noble and aristocratic audiences were much less likely to jeer or throw rotten food at someone of similar standing, even if the culprit was disgraced. If you were especially lucky the executioner had a good eye and a sharp axe, or better yet a sword as in the case of Anne Boleyn. Some not as fortunate required more than one try before finally being dispatched. Margaret Pole holds the record at twelve. All in all, ten people met their ends on the Tower Green.

  Near the Chapel Royal where the unfortunate souls were laid to rest with the commoners who had worked, lived, and died in this keep lies a memorial for them. Comprised of two engraved circles with a glass-sculpted pillow at its centre, the larger circle of dark stone bears a poem - written by the artist - around its rim,  'Gentle visitor pause awhile : where you stand death cut away the light of many days : here jewelled names were broken from the vivid thread of life : may they rest in peace while we walk the generations around their strife and courage : under there restless skies.' The upper glass circle bears the engraved names of the ten famous and not so famous individuals executed there: William, Lord Hastings 1483, Queen Anne Boleyn 1536, Margaret, Countess of Salisbury 1541, Jane Viscountess Rochford 1542, Queen Katherine Howard 1542, Lady Jane Grey 1554, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex 1601, Highlander Farquhar Shaw 19 July 1743, Highlander Samuel Macpherson 19 July 1743, Highlander Malcolm Macpherson 19 July 1743.

Day 18 Photostream