A prison and a place of execution
For centuries the Tower held prisoners. Among those executed there were Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey, who died on 12 February 1554, and 112 executions took place on nearby Tower Hill over some 400 years. The last execution at the Tower was of the German spy Josef Jakobs, on 15 August 1941.
The Royal Menagerie
By at least the 1330s the Lion Tower was linked with the Royal Menagerie, the royal collection of animals. The Royal Beasts exhibition on the North Battlements tells its story today.
The moat
Silt was cleared from the moat in 1830. After an outbreak of disease in 1841, linked to the water supply, the moat was drained and filled between 1843 and 1845.



