Every evening, as darkness settles over the River Thames, the Tower of London goes through a ritual it has repeated without interruption for centuries. The Ceremony of the Keys locks the fortress for the night. But before that can begin, someone checks on the ravens.
There must be at least six. There always are. Britain’s government has made certain of it for a very long time.
The Legend That Has Refused to Die
The prophecy is simple and very old. If the ravens of the Tower of London leave or are lost, the Crown will fall — and with it, the kingdom.
Nobody knows exactly when Londoners first said this. It may have been centuries of folklore before anyone wrote it down. What is clear is that by the reign of King Charles II, in the 1660s, it had taken on enough weight to change government policy.
The story goes that the Royal Astronomer, John Flamsteed, complained to Charles II about the ravens at the Tower. They were fouling his equipment and blocking his view of the night sky. He wanted them removed.
Charles ordered the birds gone. He was then warned — the exact source is lost to history — that doing so would fulfil the prophecy and bring ruin to the Crown.
Charles backed down. The ravens stayed. The Royal Observatory moved to Greenwich instead, where it still stands today. And the Tower has maintained its ravens ever since.
The Job That Comes With a Uniform and Six Very Demanding Birds
The Ravenmaster is an official position at the Tower of London, held by a serving Yeoman Warder — one of the Tower’s ceremonial guardsmen, better known as Beefeaters.
The Ravenmaster feeds the ravens daily, monitors their health, gives them names, and ensures they do not leave the Tower grounds. To prevent them from flying away, the primary feathers on one wing of each bird are carefully trimmed. This does not harm them. They can still move freely around the fortress, they simply cannot fly any distance.
But the ravens are not passive residents. Anyone who spends time near them quickly discovers that they are highly intelligent, deeply curious, and entirely without fear of humans.
Ravens can live for more than 40 years in captivity. They recognise individual faces. They have been known to mimic sounds — the calls of other birds, the creak of a door, fragments of conversation overheard on the Tower grounds. Each bird has its own personality, and the Ravenmaster will tell you that managing six of them is less like animal care and more like running a small, opinionated community.
Recent ravens at the Tower have included Jubilee, Harris, Rocky, Erin, Poppy, and Merlina — names that carry a quiet dignity, as though these birds understand that they are guarding something important.
The Night Britain Almost Tested the Legend
During the Second World War, German bombs struck the Tower of London. One by one, the ravens died from the stress and disruption of the raids. By the end of the war, only one remained.
That raven’s name was Grip. He died shortly after the war ended.
Britain had come uncomfortably close to a Tower with no ravens at all. Winston Churchill, then Prime Minister, ordered an immediate effort to find new birds. Four ravens were brought in from Wales. The flock was rebuilt. The Crown, to general relief, exhaled.
This episode is now told to every visitor who asks about the ravens. It is the moment when the old superstition stops feeling like folklore and starts feeling like something that matters. Seven hundred years of tradition nearly ended in the rubble of the Blitz.
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What You Actually See When You Visit
The ravens roam freely around the inner ward and Tower Green during visiting hours. They are not behind glass, not in cages, not on display behind a barrier. You can walk within a few feet of them.
Each raven wears a coloured anklet so that staff can identify individuals at a glance. They tend to be most active in the morning, when the grounds are quieter. A weekday visit will usually give you a much closer and more relaxed encounter than a weekend afternoon.
Watch them for a few minutes and you will understand why they have earned their mythology. A raven examining a tourist’s bag with slow, careful attention looks less like a bird and more like an official conducting an inspection. Their intelligence is visible, and slightly unnerving.
If you are planning a full visit to the Tower, our London planning guide covers everything you need to know before you go. And if the Tower’s ceremonial traditions interest you, what nobody tells you before the Changing of the Guard is worth reading first.
What Happens If a Raven Goes Missing
It has happened. In 2013, a Tower raven named Munin wandered away from the grounds and was found outside the walls. Staff retrieved her. The kingdom did not fall.
But the episode explains why the Tower keeps numbers above the minimum of six. There are usually seven or eight ravens in residence at any one time. The Ravenmaster watches each bird closely. Any that show signs of illness or distress are moved to a wildlife facility and quietly replaced.
The government’s official position has not changed: six ravens must be at the Tower at all times. This is not tourist policy. It is a rule written into the management of one of Britain’s most significant historic sites.
Nobody quite believes the prophecy. Nobody quite wants to test it. That, perhaps, is the most London thing about the whole tradition — a quiet, practical hedge against something that is almost certainly impossible but not entirely worth risking.
For more of London’s layered history, the South Bank walk covers 2,000 years of the city in a single afternoon.
How many ravens live at the Tower of London?
At least six ravens are required to be at the Tower at all times — this is official policy, not just tradition. The Tower typically keeps seven or eight to ensure the minimum is never at risk.
Can the Tower of London ravens fly away?
The primary feathers on one wing of each raven are trimmed, which limits their ability to fly long distances. They can still move freely around the Tower grounds and are never caged during the day.
When is the best time to see the ravens at the Tower of London?
The ravens are active during daytime visiting hours, typically from around 10am. Morning visits on weekdays offer the best chance to observe them up close, without large crowds around.
Is the Tower raven tradition actually taken seriously by the British government?
Yes. The requirement for at least six ravens is formally embedded in Tower policy, and the Ravenmaster is a real serving military role. The tradition has never been allowed to lapse, even during the Second World War when it came very close.
There is something quietly extraordinary about standing in the courtyard of the Tower of London, watching a raven regard you with unblinking, ancient eyes. The Crown Jewels, the medieval walls, the scaffold marks on Tower Green — all of it is history you can read about.
But the ravens are something you have to see. They were here before your grandparents were born. They may still be here long after your grandchildren are grown. They are, by official decree and by very long tradition, the guardians of something that London is not prepared to lose.
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