"Halt, who comes there?" Ceremony of the Keys at Tower of London
- Edward Swift
- Sep 26, 2016
- 3 min read
Maintaining a routine for a long period of time can be tough,. Hell, even trying to go to the gym at least twice a week is hard enough. But try doing the same thing every night for over 750 years!
The Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London is one of the oldest military ceremonies in the world, and possibly the shortest too. Last night, I went with a few mates to see this historic tradition which has been done every night without fail, and is free to the public.
We arrived at 9:30pm to be taken through a few of the rules by a very entertaining Yeoman Warder before heading to Traitor's Gate, where he talked us through the ceremony and answered a few questions. He explained that this ceremony has been going for over 750 years and has happened every night without fail.
However despite the precisely timed event, it hasn't always happened on time. We were told that one night in 1940, it was delayed by about 10 minutes after a German bomb hit a block of offices in the tower during the blitz, right next to where the ceremony was happening. It knocked several of the soldiers over towards a wall, where they got up, dusted themselves off, and continued on.
While this was going on, four soldiers, three of them armed and one the platoon leader, walk down from the middle of the tower complex and stand guard under the archway by the Bloody Tower. At precisely 9:52pm, the Yeoman Warder with the keys to the Tower of London walks up to the platoon leader, gives him a candle lantern and all five of them march down to the main gates of the tower, where they close them and lock them.
While marching back, another guard moves from his post to stand near Traitor's Gate and, rifle drawn, yells "halt, who comes there?" The Yeoman Warder who was looking after us said that if the chief warder could hear the guard from his apartment near the entrance, the soldier would be rewarded with a day off as has been tradition for a number of years.
The Yeoman Warder with then yells back "the keys".
"Whose keys?" the guard questions.
"Queen Elizabeth’s Keys," he replies.
“Pass Queen Elizabeth’s Keys," the guard responds. "All’s well."
The troop then march up towards the steps next to the White Tower, where the rest of the Tower of London Guards are assembled.
At this point, the Yeoman Warder with the keys raises his hat and yells, “God preserve Queen Elizabeth," to which the guards and the public answer "Amen". I wrote about military precision earlier, and it is timed perfectly because exactly at this point, the clock strikes 10pm and chimes. The last post is played before the keys are taken back to the Queen's House (no, not Buckingham Palace, but a house within the Tower of London), and the troops are dismissed.
And just like that, it was 10:05pm and it was all over. A precisely quick but fascinating ceremony, and definitely a must do. But don't worry - despite the tower being "locked" and secured for the night, we were able to get out and weren't forced to stay as prisoners until the morning :P
Top tips
Plan in advance... and when I say advance, you should be looking many months ahead. To go last night, we booked tickets in January!
Wrap up warm. It might be warm during the day but it can get quite cold depending on the time of year you go.
No photos - if you're planning on bringing a camera to take some photos of the ceremony, don't bother. No photography or video is allowed, and if you do try they'll lock you in the tower... nah they'll just kick you out.
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