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manner of spectral visitants and examples of the supernatural are
to be found at the Tower of London. The White Tower, constructed by William the Conqueror in 1078 boasts a silent woman in white who can be seen from the outside gazing remorsefully out of a window. Never seen from the inside of that particular room, her perfume, nonetheless, reeks so pungently that it has caused people to retch. The gallery containing the armour of Henry VIII is also haunted by a malevolent presence, Guards have described upon entering the room feeling an interminable crushing sensation and lack of air. One actually had a black cloak thrown over his head in an attempt to choke him, while another was spoken to directly by an unknown revenant. Anne Boleyn and entourage have been noted proceeding up the aisle of the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula before vanishing by the altar. The ghosts of Edward V and his brother Richard, the two little crown princes thought to have been put to death by Richard III have been seen robed in their night-gowns and holding hands when sighted in the Bloody Tower. The spectre of Henry IV who was murdered in the Wakefield Tower on 21 May 1471 appears there, looking sad and pale on the anniversary of his death. Among some of the many other chimeras, Lady Jane Grey, seen as ‘a white shape forming itself on the battlements’, and Sir Walter Raleigh gazing out over the ramparts have been sighted, while the screams of the 70 year old Countess of Salisbury as she was pursued around the execution block before being forcibly held down while many clumsy attempts were made to hack off her head have been heard on more than one occasion, |
The
Tower of London
Photograph © Anthony Bliss 2004
Photograph © Anthony Bliss 2004