Background:

Everyone knows something about the Tower, usually the more gruesome bits delivered with gusto in the ever-popular Yeoman Warder tours. That’s just the tip of a complex story about how this fortress, palace and prison has adapted and evolved over nearly 1000 years in response to the national and international context and is evolving still.

Andrew Jackson, Tower Director for the charity Historic Royal Palaces, will provide a guided tour through some of the Tower’s incarnations over the last 1000 years to its current position as the most-visited paid visitor attraction in the United Kingdom. He will then describe how Historic Royal Palaces is responding to social, cultural and environmental changes and what this means for the Tower if it is to remain relevant for future generations.

Speaker:

After more than 33 years of leadership and staff roles in the Army, Andrew Jackson CBE joined Historic Royal Palaces in May 2019 as the Tower Director, a post also known by its historic title, Resident Governor and Keeper of the Jewel House. As a member of HRP’s Executive Board, he is responsible for security and visitor experience across the organisation, the development of HM Tower of London as the UK’s premier paid visitor attraction, and the day to day operation of the Tower. His career as an infantry officer in The Royal Yorkshire Regiment took him on operations to Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. In between deployments, he worked in the Ministry of Defence, the Army HQ and NATO, gaining skills in policy and strategy development, public relations, operations and training, and building new capability.

A history graduate from the University of York, Andrew also has a MA in Military Studies and is a Member of the Royal College of Defence Studies. Married to Sara since 1996, they have three 20 year olds and a full house.