In 2007, visitors to the Tower of London will be able to discover, using all their five senses, the prisoner and escape stories that this unique royal palace and fortress can tell: from knotted sheets and ropes in barrels, to cross-dressing husbands and invisible ink, audacious escapes but also bloody murder happened in these very rooms…
Daily from 2 January – 5 April experience Life in the Medieval Palace. Step back to the 13th century….mingle with courtiers of King Edward I, famous Crusader and powerful king, to learn about Royal life in his lavishly-decorated private rooms.
At Easter (6 – 15 April) the Lower Bowyer Tower will open to the public to tell the story of the Duke of Clarence who, legend has it, drowned there in a butt of malmsey wine. The costumed event over Easter will be The Coronation of Richard III - join in the turbulent events of 1483 as Richard III seizes the Crown!
During the May Day Bank Holiday (5 -7 May) The Trial of Anne Boleyn will be played out at the Tower. Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, will face public trial at the Tower of London. She is accused of treason which is punishable by death. Become a member of the jury and her fate will be down to you…
Attack the Tower! during the late May Bank Holiday. It’s 1381 and England’s downtrodden peasants have had enough - their unsympathetic government is forcing taxes upon them and they’re struggling to survive. They are about to fight their way into the Tower!
In June and July we will be hosting the Tower of London Music Festival for the third time. More details to come, so see www.towermusicfestival.com for more information.
On weekends in June and July, experience Thrown in Prison! Based on the tales of John Gerard and others, you will play the part of a sixteenth-century prisoner in the Tower and will experience the inner workings of this infamous fortress and prison.
For the summer holidays, visitors will be able to take on the identity of famous prisoners and explore the new displays in various towers will open telling more stories of prisoners and escapes:
White Tower – exploring the theme of ‘Escape’, the story of Bishop Flambard’s escape will be told, along with the discovery of the skeletons of two boys under a staircase in 1674…
Upper Salt Tower – royal prisoners King John Balliol of Scotland and King John II of France were held here but enjoyed the more ‘open’, privileged style of imprisonment…
Cradle Tower – religious prisoners were held here, especially Catholics under Elizabeth I. One, John Gerard, used invisible ink and ropes to escape to a waiting boat on the Thames and later wrote about it from the safety of Rome…
Upper Broad Arrow – graffiti by some of the gunpowder plotters will be revealed here and film footage will explore the story behind the conspiracy
Daily in August enjoy Masters of the Sword. Swords will swish and daggers will dive in live swordplay and ferocious combat in a recreation of the one-on-one combat that may have seen at the Tower in the fifteenth century.
Between 27 and 31 December enjoy a Medieval Christmas as you step back to 1284 and enjoy Christmas festivities with the court of King Edward I. Around you fools will make you laugh, entertainers will perform and musicians will sing and play, so accompany the King and his court as they gather with music, dance, stories and fun aplenty.
