The Tower of London will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War with a new display of ceramic poppies installed at the heart of the historic fortress.

Poppies © Historic Royal Palaces

The new installation will use poppies from the acclaimed 2014 artwork, ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’, which saw the Tower encircled by a ‘sea’ of poppies becoming a site for remembrance visited by over five million people. Now, nearly 30,000 poppies from the original installation, on loan from Imperial War Museums’ collection, have returned to the Tower to form a new display, commissioned by the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces, which looks after the Tower, marking and reflecting on the sacrifices made by so many during the Second World War.  
 
The display will resemble a ‘wound’ at the heart of the Tower, which was itself bombed during the Blitz and still bears some of those scars today. Poppies will pour across the lawn overlooked by the ancient White Tower, where the blood-red flowers will form a crater, with ripples flowing outwards. The installation, on display within the Tower’s walls, creates striking images, reminding us of the sacrifice and loss of war, and of the long-lasting impact of conflict.  

Yeoman Warder with a poppy © Historic Royal Palaces, Imperial War Museums

The poppies and concept for the 2014 installation was devised and created by artist, Paul Cummins, who said: "It’s with great excitement and joy that we will be bringing some of the original poppies back to the Tower to mark such an important year of remembrance. Seeing the public reaction to ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’, and the subsequent tour of the ‘Wave’ and ‘Weeping Window’ across the country, was something that I will always be proud of and will never forget. These artworks helped to bring people together from across the world, collaborating, telling stories, remembering loved ones and honouring those who sacrificed to protect future lives.

"I hope that some of the poppies returning to the place they were initially unveiled will inspire the same feelings of togetherness, reflection and hope for the future for all across the globe."

Poppy and White Tower © Historic Royal Palaces, Imperial War Museums

The Tower suffered heavy aerial bombardment during the Blitz, alongside the rest of the East End of London. One of the Tower’s Yeoman Warders, Samuel Reeves, and a resident, Lily Frances Lunn, died when the fortress took a direct hit, and several of its historic buildings were bomb-damaged in the period. 

At the end of the War, the fortress was floodlit, as a beacon of hope for a new beginning, but the shadow of loss hung over its VE Day festivities. Marking this loss is of deep importance to the Tower’s resident community, many of whom are veterans themselves. 
 
Brigadier Andrew Jackson, Governor of the Tower of London, said: “Many of the community that lives and works at the Tower of London are veterans with a long and distinguished record of service. Everyone here is familiar with the Tower’s wartime history and the impact of the previous poppies installation in 2014, so we are looking forward to welcoming visitors to this new display. We hope it will be a shared space to reflect on the sacrifices of the fallen.”

Yeoman Warder with a poppy © Historic Royal Palaces, Imperial War Museums

The display opened on 6th May, in advance of the 80th anniversary of VE Day - which marks the official end of the Second World War in Europe – on 8th May.  It will run through VJ Day, 15 August, until 11 November, culminating in a moment of remembrance for Armistice Day. When the display closes, the poppies will return to Imperial War Museums’ collection. 
 
Click here to find out more about the poppies installation, and if you or your group would like to visit the Tower on a trip to London, perhaps as part of a tailor-made tour of England or the United Kingdom, please do contact our team today.