Displaying items by tag: tower of london

The four known extant copies of the original Magna Carta – often cited as England’s first cautious step toward individual rights — will unite at the British Library in London this week for the first time in their 800-year history.

England’s King John signed Magna Carta in 1215 after rebellious barons seized the Tower of London, threatening his power. Under siege at home and abroad, John put his name to a document which handed over significant powers to the barons. A number of copies stamped with the official royal seal were then drawn up and distributed across England.

The Royal Armouries branch at the Frazier History Museum, in Louisville, Kentucky, which opened in 2004, has failed to raise any money from US donors, we can reveal. Ten years ago, Britain’s national museum of arms and armour loaned 250 objects to the new US museum. Edward Impey, the director-general of the Armouries, says that as far he knows, the Frazier loans “did not raise a penny”. The objects will return to the UK when the partnership ends, by mutual consent, in January 2015.

Until recently, the Armouries’ website described the Frazier as one of its four “branches”, along with the Tower of London, its main museum in Leeds, Yorkshire, and Fort Nelson in Portsmouth, in the south of England.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have paid tribute to World War One personnel at a Tower of London art installation featuring thousands of ceramic poppies. The Queen laid a wreath at the "Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red" exhibit, where each poppy commemorates a fallen WW1 serviceman. By 11 November - Armistice Day - there will be 888,246 ceramic poppies, one for each British and colonial death.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry visited in August. Hundreds of spectators lined the perimeter of the tower's moat during the royal visit.

Stage designer Tom Piper, who helped create the poppy installation, said the Queen described the artwork as "impressive."