"a 900-year history"

"Power House," a new permanent exhibition, will open April 2 on the top floor of the historic White Tower inside the Tower of London.

The exhibition will showcase the many faces the tower has worn during its 900-year history: royal residence, fort, mint, prison, records office, jewel house, observatory, zoo and armory. The Tower was the site of the execution of two of Henry VIII’s queens; the coronation of the 9-days-queen, Lady Jane Grey; and the burial ground of Edward IV’s murdered sons, the little princes.

The new exhibition will feature displays that highlight the various chapters in the tower’s long life set around a showpiece, a 10-foot-tall dragon constructed of artifacts taken from each, such as imitation Jewel House diamonds and rubies for the dragon’s eyes and telescopes from the observatory for its legs.