However, I do not want (or have time) to go into a full history lesson. But if you feel inclined to study up on the topic, I would say it is well worth your time. It is truly fascinating!

Basically, you should know though that it has been in use since the early 1000s (built in 1078 AD by William the Conqueror). Crazy huh? So much history in a relatively small area.

I enjoyed being able to feel like I was actually in the middle of history. You could just feel how much the tower had seen in its time.

One cool thing is that there is a tradition in the Tower of keeping ravens on the grounds. There is a myth that if there are ever less than 6 ravens in the Tower, the kingdom will fall. In fact, they usually have at least 10 ravens to be on the safe side (6 required and 4 back-ups!). There is a "Ravenmaster" at the Tower and that position is a high honor.

The ravens are really fun to watch. They are not scared of people so they would come right up to you and unfold their wings in an attempt to frighten you (which, I can't lie, was very effective the first time that happened! they are a lot bigger than I thought they would be...). They really add to that historical, ancient feel of the Tower.

My favorite part was going into one of the towers (the name escapes me at the moment of which one it was...just looked it up: Beauchamp Tower) and seeing the things that prisoners had carved into the walls during their time of imprisonment. It was slightly moving to picture them sitting in their dark corners, etching their thoughts and names into the stone. It was also slightly sickening to realize that their room had a huge window that looked out over the green where many of the beheadings took place. I cannot imagine their terror.