Beyond the Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers

An epic light and sound display at the Tower of London to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War.

As the nation commemorates the centenary of the end of the First World War, a new installation at the Tower of London, Beyond the Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers will fill the moat with thousands of individual flames: a public act of remembrance for the lives of the fallen, honouring their sacrifice.

This new artistic tribute will run for eight nights, leading up to and including Armistice Day 2018.

A moving ritual
Beyond the Deepening Shadow is an evolving installation, which will unfold each evening over the course of four hours, with the Tower moat gradually illuminated by individual flames.

The unfolding visual spectacle will be accompanied by a specially-commissioned sound installation; a sonic exploration of the shifting tide of political alliances, friendship, love and loss in war.

At the centre of the sound installation lies a new choral work, with words from War Poet Mary Borden’s Sonnets to a Soldier.

A powerful symbol of remembrance
Beyond the Deepening Shadow will begin with a procession led by the Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London. Emerging from the fortress, the Yeoman Warders – themselves all distinguished former servicemen and women – will ceremonially light the first flame.

In a moving ritual, a select team of volunteers will then proceed to light the rest of the installation, gradually creating a circle of light, radiating from the Tower as a powerful symbol of remembrance.

Members of the public are invited to return to the Tower of London to see the installation evolve each night, and to join in this public act of commemoration.

The display will conclude at 21:00 every evening.