Tower of London
1,000 years of executions, torture and royal prisoners inside England's most famous fortress.
Case File No. 051
FILE 01 The Legend
Built by William the Conqueror in 1078, the Tower has been palace, prison, zoo and execution ground. Anne Boleyn (1536), Catherine Howard (1542), Lady Jane Grey (1554) and countless others died on Tower Green. The Princes in the Tower — 12-year-old Edward V and his brother — vanished inside in 1483; their bones were allegedly found under a staircase in 1674.
FILE 02 The Sightings Log
The headless body of Anne Boleyn is said to walk near the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula where she is buried. In 1817 a sentry reportedly died of shock after confronting a bear-shaped apparition near the Jewel House. Guards in 1957 reported a 'white shape' sliding down the Salt Tower wall. The most famous account: in October 1817, a tub-shaped glowing object was seen by a sentry — still unexplained.
FILE 03 The Skeptic’s File
Historic Royal Palaces, which runs the Tower, embraces the ghost stories as part of its brand — legend is good business. The sentry-bear death of 1817 appears in 19th-century press but not in coroner records. Cold spots and dread in a 900-year-old stone fortress are what psychology calls 'haunting by suggestion' — primed visitors get prime-able experiences.