London Things to Do Tips by Blatherwick

The Tower of London represents all that England is about. Its construction began in 1078 when William the Conqueror began to construct a tower near and old Roman wall on the edge of the Thames River. The tower has since been a prison, a fortress, a royal residence, and is now a museum. It's also been used as a royal mint, royal armory, royal zoo, and royal observatory

King Henry III made this tower his home around 1240. He whitewashed the tower, widened the grounds to include a church, a great hall, and other buildings. The entire new area was named as the Tower of London and renamed the original tower the White Tower.

Of course there is the intrigue of the towers as well. King Edward V and his younger brother were murdered in the Garden Tower , which is now known as the Bloody Tower. In fact several royals have been executed within these walls.

After the reign of Henry VII, the Tower of London was never again used to house an English queen or king, but the dungeon was still used to hold England's enemies.

Today, the tower houses the crown jewels. There are 10 crowns on display, but only 1 is worn frequently. You will also see the Scepter with the Cross, which contains the 530 carat First Star of Africa (the largest cut diamond in the world).

You can also go into the White Tower and check out the suits of armor. Another thing to do is to take a tour with the Yeoman Wardens (Beefeaters). They really do have that sharp English wit. If you want you can just sit back and watch the ravens fly around. Be careful. They bite.

Adults 13.50 GBP
Children 9.00 GBP

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Phone: 0 20 7709 0765
Address: Tower Hill, EC3
Directions: Tower Hill tube
Website: http://www.armouries.org.uk/tower/

Buckingham Palace has been the home of the royals since Queen Victoria occupied in in 1837. The Queen still uses the palace as a residence, offices, and for receptions. Parts of the palace are open to the public from 9:30 - 4:15 daily from early August to early October.

The highlight of a visit here is the changing of the guard at the Canada Gate. During the summer it is daily at 11:30. During the rest of the year the ceremony takes place on even numbered days.

The original building was constructed as a countryhouse in 1705 by the Duke of Buckingham, John Sheffield. King George III bought the house in 1761 for his wife and had it altered by William Chambers. In 1826, King George IV started to expand the house into a palace. Due to a lack of sufficient funding, the architect John Nash incorporated the existing house in the new palace.

In 1850 the large east wing was added. It includes a large 40 meter long ballroom. The large façade which can be seen from the Mall was built in 1913 by Aston Webb.

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Address: The Mall, SW1
Directions: Green Park tube

It is only the most famous clock in the world. Big Ben is actually the nickname of the bell, not the tower. The new clock was finished on September 7, 1859 with the tower standing at 96.3m (316 ft.). The bell weighs 13.8 tons and was hung in 1858. It chimes on the hour. It is still the largest clock in Britain.

There are 2 theories as to how Big Ben got its name. The first is that it was named after champion heavyweight boxer Ben Caunt. More likely it is named after Sir Benjamin Hall, First Commissioner of Works from 1855-1858.

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Address: Parliament Square, SW1
Directions: Westminster tube
Website: http://www.parliament.uk

The Palace of Westminster is where the government of the United Kingdom sits. You can go to the House of Commons and listen to the elected officials moan and bicker at each other. You can also go to the House of Lords, the upper non-elected narcolepsy telethon.

The palace was originally built in the eleventh century by Edward the Confessor. On the night of the 16th of October, 1834 the old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire. Following the destruction of the buildings, a competition was launched for design suitable for the new Palace. This new building was completed in 1840. It incorporated a neogothic style and included the famous clock tower with the Big Ben bell.

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Address: Parliament Square, SW1
Directions: Westminster tube
Website: http://www.parliament.uk

This is where Kings and Queens are crowned, royal weddings take place, famous people are buried. This is Westminster Abbey.

King Harold II Godwinson was the first monarch crowned in the Abbey in 1066. On Christmas Day of the same year William the Conqueror was crowned here and almost all subsequent English monarchs have been crowned there. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the traditional cleric in the coronation ceremony. The throne, kept in the Abbey, on which British sovereigns are seated at the moment of coronation is known as St. Edward's Chair

Most Kings and Queens of England were buried here. Aristocrats were buried in side chapels and monks and people associated with the Abbey were buried in the Cloisters and other areas. The practice spread from aristocrats to poets, generals, admirals, politicians, scientists, doctors, etc.

According to tradition, a shrine was first founded here in 616. It was said to have been miraculously consecrated after a fisherman on the River Thames saw a vision of Saint Peter. The historic Abbey was built by Edward the Confessor and was consecrated in 1065.

Although the Abbey was seized by Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1534, and closed in 1540, becoming a cathedral until 1550, its royal connections saved it from the destruction wrought on most other English abbeys. The expression "robbing Peter to pay Paul" may arise from this period when money meant for the Abbey, which was dedicated to St. Peter, was diverted to the treasury of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Until the 19th century, Westminster was the third seat of learning in England, after Oxford and Cambridge. It was here that the first third of the King James Bible Old Testament and the last half of the New Testament were translated. The New English Bible was also put together here in the 20th century.

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Phone: 0 20 7654 4900
Address: Deans Yard, SW1
Directions: St James's Park tube
Website: http://www.westminster-abbey.org

St Paul's Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of London. The site has long been associated with religion. It is believed that it was originally the site of an ancient megalith and then later a temple dedicated to the goddess Diana.

A religious structure dedicated to Saint Paul has existed in London since 604. The first cathedral was destroyed by fire in 675 and the second was ransacked and then destroyed by Viking forces in 962. Old St Paul's was built by the Normans in their characteristic style from 1087 and it was completed in 1310. It was the largest church in England and the third largest in Europe. The church had the highest steeple in Europe until 1561 when it was destroyed by fire following a lightning strike and was never rebuilt, the building then slowly fell into general disrepair. The Norman structure otherwise survived until 1666 when, scheduled for demolition, it was completely destroyed in the Great Fire of London. The present building dates from the 17th century, and is London's fourth St Paul's Cathedral. Work commenced on the cathedral in 1675, and was completed in 1708. During the Blitz of 1940 this structure was struck by a bomb but survived.

The cathedral holds over 200 memorials, the OBE Chapel and the Treasury, the Chapel of the Order of St Michael and St George, All Souls and St Dunstan's. Christopher Wren was the first person to be interred in 1723. Within the cathedral are plaques, carvings, monuments and statues dedicated to a wide range of people. The bulk are related to the British military with several lists of servicemen who died in action - the most recent being the Gulf War. There are special monuments to Admiral Nelson and to the Duke of Wellington in the south transept and north aisle, respectively. Also remembered are poets, painters, clergy and residents of the local parish. There are also lists of the Bishops and cathedral Deans for the last thousand years. St. Paul's was also used for the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.

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Phone: 0 20 7236 4128
Address: St Pauls Churchyard, EC4
Directions: St Pauls tube
Website: http://www.stpauls.co.uk

A very central place in London is Trafalgar Square. In the center of the square is Nelson's Column, surrounded by fountains and four huge bronze lions sculpted by Sir Edwin Landseer; the metal used is said to have been recycled from the cannons of the French fleet. The column is topped by a statue of Lord Nelson, the admiral who commanded the British Fleet at Trafalgar.

Of interest to us Canadians is Canada House located on the west side of the square. It even has a gallery that exhibits Canadian art.

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Address: Trafalgar Square, WC2
Directions: Charing Cross or Leicester Square tubes

Canada House was built between 1824 and 1827 to designs by Sir Robert Smirke, the architect of the British Museum. It was originally used by the Union Club and the Royal College of Physicians. The Canadian government acquired the building in 1923. The building under went restoration work in 1993, and was officially reopened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1996. To commemorate the re-opening, detachments from Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) and the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment came to London in 2000 and mounted the Queen's Life Guard at Horse Guards and Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace respectively.

Canada House is the home of the High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom. It is very much a public building. It contains the High Commissioner's office, and hosts conferences, receptions, lectures, launches and "vernissages" where Canadians and Britons can meet, and has facilities for film, video and television screenings.

The Canada House Gallery stages temporary exhibitions of historical and contemporary art and artefacts. There is also an information centre, where visitors can sample Canada and Canadians via computer terminals, a reference library and reading room, and music-listening posts featuring the works of Canadian singers, songwriters and musicians.

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Phone: 0207 258 6421
Address: Trafalgar Square, WC2
Directions: Charing Cross or Leicester Square tubes
Website: www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canadaeuropa/united_kingdom/canadahouse-en.asp

Piccadilly Circus is the place to people watch in London You'll see people from all walks of life passing on by. The area used to be surrounded by illuminated advertising hoardings on buildings, but only the one in the northwestern corner, between Shaftesbury and Glasshouse Street does.

At the south-western side of the Circus, moved from its original position in the centre, stands the Shaftesbury memorial fountain, erected in 1893 to commemorate the philanthropic works of Lord Shaftesbury. It is topped by Alfred Gilbert's winged nude statue. This statue was the first in the world to be cast in aluminium.

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Address: Piccadilly Circus, SW1
Directions: Piccadilly Circus tube

The British Museum is one of the world's largest and most important museums of human history and culture. The museum was established in 1753 and was based largely on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. The museum first opened to the public on January 15, 1759 in Montagu House in Bloomsbury, on the site of the current museum building.

The British Museum is home to over seven million objects illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. Many of the artifacts are stored underneath the museum due to lack of space. Highlights of the collections include:

- The Rosetta Stone
- The Elgin Marbles, carvings from the Athenian Parthenon
- The Portland Vase
- The Stein collection from Central Asia
- The Clock Room
- Egyptian Mummies
- The Benin Bronzes
- Anglo-Saxon artifacts from the Sutton Hoo burial
- The Lewis Chessmen
- The Mold cape (a Bronze age gold ceremonial cape)
- The basalt statue Hoa Hakananai'a from Easter Island

It's interesting to note that the majority of the museum has nothing to do with British culture. This has led to several controversies regarding whether the museum should own certain pieces or whether they should be returned to the country of origin.

The British Museum, like the other main museums and art galleries in London, charges no admission fee. There are charges for special exhibitions.

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Phone: 0 20 7323 8299
Address: Great Russell Street, WC1
Directions: Holborn tube
Website: http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk