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The Raven

It had been thought that there have been at least six ravens in residence at the Tower for centuries. It was said that Charles II ordered their removal following complaints from John Flamsteed, the Royal Astronomer.[3]. However, they were not removed because Charles was then told of the legend that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, the White Tower, the Monarchy, and the entire Kingdom would fall. Charles, following the time of the English Civil War, superstition or not, was not prepared to take the chance, and instead had the observatory moved to Greenwich.

Though recent research by Geoff Parnell, the official historian for the Tower, has found that the earliest record of ravens at the Tower was in 1895, nobody knows when the ravens were first resident in the Tower or when the legend began. Wild ravens, which were once abundant in London, and often seen around meat markets (such as nearby Eastcheap) feasting for scraps, could have roosted at the Tower in earlier times. [4]

No one can remember the Tower without Ravens, though during the Second World War most of them perished through shock during bombing raids - the sole survivor being a bird called 'Grip'.[5] However, before the Tower reopened to the public on 1 January 1946, care was taken to ensure that a new set of ravens was in place.[6]

There are eight ravens, whose wings are now clipped to prevent them from flying away, and they are cared for by the Ravenmaster, a duty given to one of the Yeomen Warders.

The ravens' names/gender/age are (as of November 2006):[7]

* Gwylum (M/18 yrs)
* Thor (M/15)
* Hugin (F/11)
* Munin (F/11)
* Branwen (F/3 yrs)
* Bran (M/3)
* Gundulf (M/1)
* Baldrick (M/1).

The oldest raven ever to serve at the Tower of London was called Jim Crow, who died at the age of 44.[8]

In 2006, ahead of the H5N1 avian flu scare, the ravens were moved indoors; as of July 2006, they are once again free to roam about the grounds within the Tower complex.

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