Crown jewels of England

The crown jewels of England, and now of the United Kingdom, are kept in the Tower of London. Apart from an Ampule and Spoon they all date from after The Restoration of Charles II in 1661. The ancient crown jewels of England were destroyed by Oliver Cromwell in 1649 when he established Commonwealth of England. Among the original crown jewels were Alfred the Great's State Crown described as "Gould wyerworke set with slight stones and two little bells" which once melted down the gold it contained fetched £248 and 10 shillings, while the little 11th century crown of Queen Edith only realised £16. It is considered that both these crowns date from the 11th century and the crown described as that of Alfred the Great is, in fact, the Crown of St. Edward the Confessor and was renamed thus following the Reformation. There are conflicting legends that this ancient Crown of England still exists; that it was secreted by some Royalist and its hiding place was never revealed, although official sources state that the gold from this crown was recovered and used to make the present St. Edward's Crown.
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