When the walls can talk
Graffiti stories from the Tower of London
Date: 02 November 2026
Author:
Jamie Ingram
The history of the Tower of London comes alive through the prisoner graffiti etched on many of its walls: the sometimes beautiful and heartfelt inscriptions left behind by the famous, and not so famous people held captive there over the centuries. Some ended up victims of brutal executions and others, more fortunate, survived their stay to return home. As the Tower surely left its mark on them, they left their mark on the Tower. Here, Research Lead for Tower of London Graffiti Projects, Jamie Ingram explains how recent findings are helping us tell the stories behind the graffiti.
Historic Royal Palace’s graffiti research project
Over the last three years we have examined every wall and surface in the Tower of London to understand exactly what is there - everything from the famous pieces such as the Dudley graffito (the singular form of graffiti) to the simple names and symbols left behind by other prisoners and visitors. This includes some modern visitors, even though we ask everyone not to!
Did you know?
You could go to prison for up to two years for drawing graffiti on the walls of the Tower of London.
Past graffiti research
This isn’t the first time that the various organisations that have looked after the Tower of London have tried to record the graffiti. In fact, the very first attempt was in 1796 when Reverend John Brand inspected the newly discovered inscriptions in the Beauchamp Tower and made a series of drawings of them.
Then in 1825 John Bailey included drawings and etchings of some of the prisoner graffiti in his history of the Tower of London. By 1854 the graffiti had started to become well known and even Queen Victoria saw them when she visited, recording in her diary:
'Then went into the Beauchamp Tower, the walls of which bear numberless interesting & heartrending inscriptions, which tell many a dreadful tale of woe.'
In 1914 the Royal Mint came to the Tower with their new electrotyping machines. They created a series of wax castings that they then turned into copper plates to record the prisoner graffiti. That produced a total of 268 records, mostly of single graffito and a tiny number where they recorded a collection of graffiti right next to each other.
Image: Beauchamp Tower at sunrise. © Historic Royal Palaces.
Then went into the Beauchamp Tower, the walls of which bear numberless interesting & heartrending inscriptions, which tell many a dreadful tale of woe.
Queen Victoria writing in her diary, 1854.
The latest research findings
Today we use cameras and laser scanners to take photographs and make 3D models of the graffiti. It’s much quicker and doesn’t cause any damage to the stone. Assisted by an incredible team of volunteers we have recorded an estimated 12000 individual graffiti across the buildings and walls that make up the Tower of London. Some of them are too rude to mention here, including a phallus and some soldiers verses that are quite explicit in their language, but most of them are quite simple.
There are names of people who have been at the Tower as soldiers, prisoners, staff or visitors over its nearly 1000 year history. We found religious symbols, drawings of ships, aeroplanes and even one that’s probably of the Tower itself. We also found coats of arms, and family crests. There are little poems, and extracts from books.
Priests accused of heresy and people accused of witchcraft inscribed symbols of their practices into the walls of the chambers where they were held. In the Salt Tower, you can see witchcraft on one wall and catholic devotion just around the corner.
Image: Volunteers conducting a graffiti survey within the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London. © Historic Royal Palaces.
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Beauchamp Tower highlights
Starting with some of the most famous graffiti in the Beauchamp Tower, the Dudley family crest is stunningly detailed and includes a flower for each of the Dudley brothers, including Robert Dudley.
It is intricately carved and clearly made by someone who knew what they were doing. This raises the question of whether one of the Dudleys had spent time training to carve stone or whether they hired in a mason to do the work for them.
Image: Close up of a graffito carving of the Dudley family coat of arms. © Historic Royal Palaces.
Nearby there is a moving depiction of a figure that appears to be at prayer, often interpreted as being inside the Little Ease - the tiny cell that you could not stand or lie in because of its cramped size.
There is also a heartfelt inscription in Latin written by the Earl of Arundel on the fireplace he had installed in the space as a prisoner. An English translation reads: ‘The more suffering for Christ in this world, the more glory with Christ in the next’
Less easy to spot, just inside the door is a grid, finely cut into the wall designed to look like a 'Nine men’s morris’ board - a popular medieval and early modern board game. However, as it’s on a vertical wall, it would have been impossible to play!
Image: Close up of graffito carved by Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel. © Historic Royal Palaces.
Salt Tower highlights
Meanwhile over in the Salt Tower on the South Battlements, there is a wealth of interesting graffiti. The horoscope by Hew Draper is perhaps the most impressive. A finely carved set of circles that fit perfectly inside their square frame, clearly engraved by someone with the skills of a stone mason. Hew had been arrested in 1560 and held in the Tower, accused of using witchcraft to poison Bess of Hardwick and her husband William St Loe. He was released some time before July 1562.
The heart-shaped graffito in the Salt Tower was carved by Giovanni Battista (John Baptist) Castiglione, Italian tutor to Elizabeth I. Some think the 'E' within the heart stands for Elizabeth. Castiglione was imprisoned and tortured at the Tower in the 1550s for his potential involvement in a plot against Queen Mary in favour of the future Elizabeth I. He was released and later acted as a messenger for Elizabeth during her own time as a prisoner in the Tower for her supposed support of Thomas Wyatt's rebellion in 1554.
During her reign, Elizabeth herself held many prisoners at the Tower including Jesuit priest, Henry Walpole, who left a clear inscription of his name in the Salt Tower. A missionary arriving from France, Walpole was arrested within a day of landing in Yorkshire and was transferred to the Tower in February 1594, where he was tortured in manacles. He refused to recognise Elizabeth as the head of the Church and so was executed for treason, like many Catholic priests during this period.
Some ornate crosses and some hands and feet with stigmata carved into them can also be found etched into the Salt Tower. These symbols are used widely in the medieval and early modern period to depict Christ after the crucifixion, and are often linked with Roman Catholic worship. They are probably the work of other Catholic and Jesuit prisoners held during Elizabeth I’s reign.
On the wall just inside the door from the south wall walk into the Salt Tower, there are a set of intriguing, interconnected circles. Fine and shallow, they are difficult to spot, but with good light and some patience you can see them. These marks are commonly thought to be protective marks, put up to keep evil spirits out of a space.
Image: Hew Draper's horoscope. 'Hew Draper of Brystow made this Spher the 30 Day of Maye Anno 1561'. The symbols around the outside of the main circle are the 12 zodiac signs, connected to each other by a network of lines. This is surrounded by a carefully marked border that allows it to be read as a grid and an astrological calendar at the side. Combined, these could either be used for forecasting horoscopes or for teaching astrology. © Historic Royal Palaces.
Image: A heart with the letter 'E' inside, carved by Giovanni Battista (John Baptist) Castiglione. © Historic Royal Palaces.
Image: Simple inscription of Henry Walpole's name. © Historic Royal Palaces.
Image: Set of faint, interconnected circles thought to be a way of warding off evil spirits. © Historic Royal Palaces.
Graffiti during World War II
Moving forward to the 20th century we have found graffiti from soldiers who were here during the Second World War. The following inscriptions were found in the upper floor of the Salt Tower that is closed to visitors:
'R, F, RICHARD OCT 1942 A MINUTE OF TIME I AM TOLD IS WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD BUT GOLD CAN NEVER BUY THE TIME THAT AS ONCE GONE BY'
'LONG LIVE ENGLAND 1942'
Also off limits to visitors, there is a small depiction of an airplane on one of the pillars of the upper gallery of the Chapel of St John in the White Tower. The graffito looks like it might be a German fighter plane from World War II.
Read more: The Tower of London and the Second World War
To be continued
With a thousand years of history and a staggering amount of graffiti, the walls of the Tower of London have some incredible stories to tell. Hopefully over the next few years we will be able to reveal more details as we continue to explore the collection and investigate the people who made these intriguing marks.
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