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10 stops · about 0.0 km on foot · London, United Kingdom

Dark history around Tower of London, London (part 3)

Follow the stops in order. Each is a documented story set at or near this spot.

Open the walking route in Maps See it on the Dark Atlas

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  1. Start · Tower of London, London · 1595

    The Queen's Own Torturer

    Under commission from Elizabeth I's Privy Council, Richard Topcliffe hung Catholic priests by their wrists in manacles, and kept his office despite scandal.

  2. same spot · Tower Green, Tower of London, London · 1536

    The Queen And The Swordsman Of Calais

    Convicted on evidence historians now doubt, a queen was beheaded with a sword — sent for from across the Channel before her trial had even returned a verdict.

  3. same spot · Tower of London, London · 1503

    The Queen Whose Death Broke a King

    A late pregnancy killed a beloved queen within days of childbirth, and her husband was left shattered.

  4. same spot · Tower of London, London · 1671

    The Rogue Who Was Pardoned For Stealing The Crown Jewels

    Caught red-handed trying to steal the Crown Jewels, he was somehow pardoned and rewarded by the king he robbed.

  5. same spot · Tower of London, London · 1235

    The Royal Menagerie Where a Polar Bear Fished the Thames

    For centuries the Tower of London kept wild animals. A polar bear fished in the Thames, an elephant is said to have died on wine, and in the 1830s the menagerie closed.

  6. same spot · Tower of London, London · 1696

    The Scientist Who Hunted Counterfeiters

    The man who rewrote physics takes what was supposed to be an easy government job and turns it into a personal war on fraud.

  7. same spot · Tower of London, London · 1568

    The Secret Marriage That Sealed Her Fate

    A love match without the Queen's permission led to a slow, quiet erasure from the world.

  8. same spot · Tower of London, London · 1941

    The Spy Who Gave Himself Away With A Gunshot

    A parachuting German agent broke his ankle on landing and fired his pistol into the air just to get found.

  9. same spot · Tower Green, London · 1542

    The Teenage Queen Who Never Saw Him Again

    Henry's fifth wife ran screaming through Hampton Court trying to reach a king who refused to look at her.

  10. same spot · Tower of London, London · 1542

    The Woman Who Served Five Doomed Queens

    A lady-in-waiting survived the fall of two Tudor queens before the scaffold finally came for her too.

Coordinates mark the place of each story, and some are approximate. Check opening times and access before you go.