Wanderlust World Wanderlust World The Tower of London's grim reputation as a prison is well-earned. For nearly 1,000 years, this fortress has held monarchs, saints, traitors, and spies—a roll call of British history's most dramatic figures.
Anne Boleyn (1536) and Catherine Howard (1542), Henry VIII's second and fifth wives, were both executed on Tower Green. Sir Thomas More (1535), Henry's former Lord Chancellor, died for refusing to acknowledge the king's supremacy over the Church. Lady Jane Grey (1554), the "Nine Days' Queen," was beheaded at 16.
Sir Walter Raleigh spent 13 years imprisoned (1603–1616), writing his History of the World before a final expedition and execution. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, Elizabeth's favorite, fell from grace and died in 1601.
Guy Fawkes (1606) was tortured and executed for the Gunpowder Plot. The Kray twins (1952) were among the last prisoners, held briefly for failing to report for national service.
Rudolf Hess (1941–1946), Hitler's deputy, was held after his bizarre solo flight to Scotland. Josef Jakobs (1941), a German spy, was the last person executed at the Tower (by firing squad).
The Tower transitioned from royal residence to state prison to military storehouse to tourist attraction. Its prisoner list reads like a history of power, religion, and rebellion in Britain—each stone echoing with stories of those who challenged the crown and paid the ultimate price.