THE TOWER OF LONDON

"Halt! Who goes there?"

"The Keys."

"Whose Keys?"

"Queen Elizabeth's Keys."

"God preserve Queen

Elizabeth."

"Amen!"

These words can be heard every night just before 10 o'clock. They mean that the Tower's been locked up for the night. The Ceremony of the Keys is at least 700 years old.

What is the Tower?

The Tower has been many things: a palace, a fortress, a prison, a place of execution, a Zoo. Today, it is best known as a historical museum. About 150 people and six ravens live here.

The Zoo

Kings sometimes get strange presents. About 700 years ago King Henry III got 3 leopards, 1 elephant and a polar bear. He kept them in the Tower. The elephant died after two years but the polar bear was happy as it went swimming and fishing in the Thames with a strong rope round its neck. That was the start of the London Zoo. In 1835 all animals left the Tower and were sent to the Zoo in Regent's Park. Only the ravens stayed on.

Ravens

There are always at least 6 ravens at the Tower. The first ones probably built their nests here because they liked the old stone houses and walls. There is a story that they bring good luck to Britain, if they stay at the Tower. That's why they get "paid" meat and biscuits every day. But their wings are cut so that they can't fly away. They are not very friendly. Once one of them bit a German minister.