Recently, I have received many emails from people planning a visit to the Tower of London asking for help in identifying the part of the Tower where Anne Boleyn was imprisoned in May 1536 and the location of the scaffold. I have written about it in the past – see Anne Boleyn and the Tower of London – but seeing as I’ve now got lots of photos of the Tower, and also some old plans, I thought it would be good to make a YouTube video about it.
You can see the video at http://youtu.be/sJy107seDYA and do please leave your comments on YouTube as I’d appreciate the feedback.
I’m planning on doing regular videos there and also some exclusive ones for The Anne Boleyn Fellowship site. All very exciting!
I really enjoyed the video. Very well done. I so appreciate the visuals, especially the one that shows Anne’s final walk to her destiny on the scaffold. Succinct, informative, and visually interesting. Thanks for doing this Claire!
Loved it. Brief and to the point. I had a debate with a friend about the actual site of execution not long ago. She stated it was where the memorial is because thats what the warders said when she was there. Such a shame they are telling people the wrong thing.
Love the site too Claire and all your posts on FB and Twitter.
Telling people the wrong thing, how are they not supposed to know what they are saying when they do? as well as being warders! I went to Hampton court only a fortnight ago and one of the palace guards there was telling me a little bit about its history just in the chapel royal and he was well seemed knowledgeable to me in my eyes as I was listening to what he was saying and had to say. There were no guides there that day which I thought was unusual just the palace guards and the guard at the gate as usual but then the palace guards know what they are saying or talking about or are at least supposed to. Perhaps it is just were some of them know and some do not. I do not think that they are all like this, this way inclined.
I think their information is only as good as what they’re taught about the history of the Tower when they become Yeoman Warders, obviously what they’re told (and they’re examined in it) needs some updating!
Very informative and well done. I suppose they can’t have a memorial where the actual scaffold was as it would obstuct the entrance to the part of the tower where the crown jewels are kept.
Excellent Claire, Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you! x
Thank you, Claire! Very informative and the photos are fabulous!
The Tower is so photogenic, I’ve got folders full of them!
Good job Claire.
Loved the video. The visuals in particular.
I really want to visit Tower, which is impossible for now.
Can you please post few of your Tower pics???
Well done, yet again Claire. As you have said before it would be nice if the Tower had a simple engraved stone plaque inlaid at the correct site of the scaffold, the other could still be appreciated as a memorial to all that were executed within the Tower.
A few of us on this year’s Anne Boleyn Experience wondered if the Tower might consider putting some kind of marker actually on the parade ground. It would have to be inlaid into the ground, so it doesn’t get in the way, but there is a manhole cover near the spot so if it was flat like that then it shouldn’t cause any problems.
Has anyone approached the Tower with this idea, do you think it would be an idea if we started to bombard them with emails suggesting that they do this (in a nice way, of course).
I have visited the Tower many times and it is like the first time every time I love it so much. 🙂
Claire,
Thanks for another interesting, informative video on Anne. One would think that at these historic Tudor sites, that accuracy on their history would not be in question. Thank you for clearing these inaccuracies up. I look forward to more of your videos. Well done!
Claire,
Just viewed your YOUTUBE video…great work. Clear, concise and very professional.
Truth well stated and excellent visuals.
Lana
My daughter and I just got back from London 3 days ago. We visited the Tower of London and were fortunate enough to stay at Hampton Court Palace, our second trip. Everything you said on your video is true. I always thought Ann was executed on the Tower Green by the Queens apartments that were built for Ann and unfortunately she was executed before they finished construction. When we were at the Tower of London one of the warders stated that the real torture chambers at the tower were located in the basement of the White Tower and also on the ground floor of the Jewel House that is now the gift shop. Any comments about this. Does anyone know? Anyway we had a great time and well worth the trip, we took over 500 pictures.
Thank you so much for doing this video. It was great to actually find out where she was buried and what happened x
I have taken the liberty of linking to the video on my blog, The Land of Analie. I really enjoy how well you explained the location of Anne’s prison and scaffold sites, all while connecting your information back to the sources and keeping it clear and interesting. (However, if you object, I will gladly remove the video.)
Thank you!
That’s fine. It’s on YouTube so is public and I feel that it’s important to let people know where she was really imprisoned and executed. Thank you!
i always knew she wasnt killed at the spot….. too easy….. thank you clare … im doing a project……. for school.. so youve helped alot ….. can i ask how many people are buried in the church? and who
Well reported Claire. My husband once worked at the Tower on the maintenance team and often had to deal with the archeology team if something was found and yes, it is believed that Anne Boleyn was indeed beheaded in the parade ground, between the Waterloo barracks and North of the White Tower. I believe the Yeoman Warders just like to spin a yarn for the tourists…….. The only thing I will say is there used to be a water fountain in that general area when hubby worked there and, as a plumber, even in the height of summer, he had to defrost it, every single day. Poor Queen Anne.
Are photograph’s of Queen Anne Boleyn’s skeletal remains in existence in 2018?
The remains were exhumed in 1876/7 and photography was still fairly new at this point so no photos were taken.