Lock up your ravens. The Tower of London has made it into a Frommer’s guide book called ‘500 Places to See Before They Disappear’.
According to the guide, the Norman stronghold is threatened by sinking land and rising sea levels that could lead to a spectacularly over-achieving moat.
Sites in London comprise 1% of the titular must-sees, all of which face inundation, redevelopment, erosion or pummelling from giant sea monsters.
The local pentad of DOOM are:
• Battersea Power Station (dereliction)
• National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (ironic flooding)
• Strawberry Hill, Twickenham (disrepair)
• Little Green Street, Kentish Town (redevelopment)
• Tower of London (flooding)
We’re unlikely to see scuba-clad beefeaters feeding krill to the ravens any time soon. The Thames Barrier should protect London for several decades yet, and further flood defences are planned. And the Tower is of such immense cultural importance that no expense would be spared to protect it from threat. But others on the list could be in real danger, and London has lost great buildings before—Crystal Palace, Euston Arch and Wembley Stadium are just three 20th Century examples. So go visit these places if you haven’t already, consider buying the Frommer’s guide, then reject it in favour of the excellent London: City of Disappearances, published last year.
