A Beefeater who lives at the Tower of London has revealed estate agents asked if he would sell his home.
Spike Abbott, who guards the famous castle with about 36 others, said Foxtons sent a letter showing interest in his 12 Century house.
But the Yeoman Warder, 59, warned the London based firm that its for sale sign would raise a few eyebrows if placed outside the fort.
The Beefeaters are the oldest existing military corp and the oldest of the royal bodyguards in the land.
In current years the former soldiers have proved popular with tourists as a reminder of Britain’s antiquity, but they’re still tasked with guarding the fort.
Spike Abbott, who’s battling COVID, tweeted Foxton’s letter to the rightful owner of one of the homes in The Casemates, which lies in the outer fortification of the tower, and he wrote: ‘Thanks for the very kind offer @foxtons to sell or rent out the 12th-century property that HM Tower of London provide me with.
‘However, I think it may raise a few eyebrows when your sign appears outside my house @WappingLondon.’
He shared the post with a picture of the view from his house looking towards Tower Bridge.
The letter is understood to have been sent by the Wapping Sales and Lettings branch of Foxtons, and it said that they were valuing property in the area before offering a professional evaluation of the sales or rental price of the property in the current market with no strings attached.
It added that the estate agents would stick by COVID rules when calling for a valuation.
Mr Abbott is a former RAF serviceman who traded his wings for the traditional red Tudor uniform when he began working at the tower six years ago.
Formerly of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, he joined 36 other Yeoman Warders living out their retirement as full-time guardians of the fortress.
Yeoman Warders are descended from the ancient band of warders who guarded the tower’s gates and royal prisoners, as well as the Crown Jewels.
Now only ex-servicemen with at least 22 years under their belt can take on the position, which now also involves showing sightseers around the London attraction.
Mr Abbott joined the RAF in 1980 and was posted at RAF Abingdon the following year, where he worked with aircraft salvage and transportation.
In 1983 he moved to Germany with 20 Squadron working as a mechanic on Jaguar planes.
Estate agents do this all the time, often to browbeat and convince older people to sell their homes, and it isn’t unusual for an estate agent to sell a home, then the owner gets a flyer through the door to ask if you want to sell the same home you move into the week before. I mean, they must be moderately dense or something because you’d think that they’d remember the address to a property they sold a week earlier.
Estate agents put flyers through people’s letterboxes all the time, this is cold calling and blatant harassment, but countless buildings have been bought up in London and I guess you could banter about the Tower of London being up for sale. Can you just imagine the advertising? Luxury Apartments in London for sale at a historic venue with excellent panoramas over the river.
What he should have done was put the letter in the recycling bin, you know the ones that are painted red, saying ‘return to sender’ with a note saying ‘not known at this address’. Or perhaps he should have said that the house wasn’t for sale, but that they have a nice bridge with a lifting doorway if they’re still interested.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 