Friday, January 14, 2011

Henry in the Tower of London

It was a blustery wet day at the Tower of London, it was even quite dark when we got there at lunch time.  I was bracing myself for an onslaught of spiritual activity given the bloody history of the Tower and the age of the construction.  William the Conqueror started to build the Tower in the 1070s reusing some of the Roman city that had been there previously - that's old!  However, as we started our tour, lead by a very witty Yeoman of the Guard, I was struck by the feeling of peace - in fact it felt more like a complete lack of emotional energy.  It was quite relaxing.
But all that changed!
It changed as the sun went down, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
It changed as we walked into Wakefield Tower, haunted Wakefield Tower.
Originally built as part of lodgings for royalty, during the War of the Roses it became a prison.  The Lancastrian Henry VI was imprisoned by the Yorkist Edward IV and it is here that Henry was murdered while at pray.  I first noticed him in the passageway leading from the bedroom to the room that was the Chapel.  He knew that I was aware of him and spent some time circling and "checking me out".  As I moved into the Chapel he followed me and continued to watch me.   He was a bizarre sight, I don't know what he would have said he was wearing but to me they looked like Long Johns - white ones.  But he had accessorised by wearing a crown - he wanted me to know that he was of some standing.
More people entered the room as we continued this strange dance around each other. The king became enraged and broke his silence to shout at me "Why don't they leave me alone".  His mood became more anguished than angered as more tourists entered his chamber.  The anguish was caused by the lack of reverence for the room - it was a room of religion. He felt that the people tramping through were disrespectful to his final resting place. He knows he is dead and he just wants to be left to his peaceful praying.  He wants in death what was taken from him in life.
Here is a photo of me taking a photo in the chapel - I believe this photo has also captured orbs to the left of my head and to the right of me.    

1 comment:

  1. How fascinating, does he still have prescence?
    It seems very sad, even in death he is still not peaceful.

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