The Tower of London will be protected from a prophesied demise for years to come, after the first ravens in 30 years were born inside its walls.

At least six ravens have been kept at the fortress since the days of King Charles II, who feared the Tower and the kingdom would fall if they were ever allowed to leave.

Ruination loomed large last year as the number of legal raven breeders continued to shrink across the UK, making it harder for the ancient quota to be honoured.

A new aviary was eventually installed inside the London landmark, into which two breeding ravens - Huginn and Muninn - were brought at the end of last year.

Few expected the couple to be settled in time for the 2019 mating season, but, not without some sense of occasion, new life began emerging on April 23 - St George’s Day.

All four chicks have now hatched, the first to do so at the Tower since 1989.

They join seven other ravens in addition to the breeding couple and shore up the Tower’s safety for the foreseeable future.

Chris Skaife, ravenmaster at the Tower of London, said: “My suspicions were first piqued that we might have a chance of baby chicks when the parents built a huge nest suddenly overnight and then almost immediately the female bird started to sit on it, then on the April 23 I noticed the birds going to the nest with food.