There are many historical ceremonies and traditions in London, but one of the least seen by visitors to the city is the ancient “Ceremony of the Keys” at the Tower of London.
This is believed to be the oldest continuous ceremony in the world and has happened absolutely every night for the past 700 years without fail. The main purpose is to ensure the Tower of London is secured originally to protect the monarch from foreign invaders and more recently simply to secure the crown jewels.
Visitors are permitted to watch the ceremony, but with very limited numbers. Booking is generally recommend at least 2 months in advance, although tickets are free of charge. More details from the Ceremony of the Keys web site.
History of the Ceremony of the Keys:
There are a number of theories about the beginning of this ceremony, but the most likely two theories come from the 14th Century during the reign of Edward III or his grand-son Richard II.
First theory: In 1337 King Edward III ordered the garrison of the Tower to keep the gates to the tower locked from dusk to dawn. Returning unexpectedly from France, he found the gates to be unlocked. Edward had the constable in charge of the garrison imprisoned and ordered that from that day forth the gates should be locked in a nightly ceremony.
Second theory: This involves Edward’s grand-son Richard II who was only 10 at the time he took the thrown, and due to bad advice given by his uncle John of Gaunt, he imposed the original poll tax. This caused what became known as the Peasant Revolt in June of 1381. The leader of the revolt Wat Tyler took several thousand peasants and broke in through a gate in the Tower of London. The warders were so worried about this kindof revolt happening again that they asked for an armed guard to carry out their duties and decided that the gates must be locked every night.
Whichever case was the cause, one thing is for sure – the warders have taken this job very seriously since.
The ceremony:
At exactly 9.53pm, the Chief Yeoman Warder meets the Military Escort, made up of members of the Tower of London Guard. Together, the Chief Yeoman Warder and the Yeoman Warder ‘Watchman’ secure the main gates of the Tower.
Upon their return down Water Lane, the party is halted by the sentry and challenged to identify themselves:
Sentry: Who comes there?
Chief Warder: The keys.
Sentry: Whose keys?
Chief Warder: Queen Elizabeth’s keys.
Sentry: Pass Queen Elizabeth’s Keys. All’s well.
The party then makes its way through the Bloody Tower Archway into the fortress, where they halt at the bottom of the Broadwalk Steps.
On the top of the stairs, under the command of their officer, the Tower guard present arms and the Chief Warder raises his hat, proclaiming:
Chief Warder: God preserve Queen Elizabeth.
Sentry: Amen!
The Chief Warder then takes the keys to the Queen’s House for the night.
Modern history:
It is a requirement of the ceremony that it ends at exactly 10pm, thus the timing is worked out carefully. In recent history the ceremony has only been late once when during WWII a bomb dropped close to the tower and delayed events by a couple of minutes.
There’s even a letter displayed in the tower from the Officer of the Guard apologising to King George for the delay, and a reply stating that the Chief Warder was not to be punished as the delay was caused by enemy actions.
Useful extra info:
Hotels in the City of London (near The Tower of London)
Tower of London official web site
Central London tourist attractions
London self-catering apartments
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