|
|
Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is the largest inhabited stronghold in the world and England's largest castle. Although now a magnificent palace, it was in fact once a wooden stockade and part of a ring of defence built around London, the centre of which was the Tower of London. Old Windsor was a residence of the Anglo-Saxon kings before the Norman Conquest. Then King William I (the Conqueror), who came from Normandy and successfully seized the English throne, built a castle at the present site about 1070. The castle provides a step back into history, and for over 900 years it has become a favoured royal residence, so much so that in 1917 George V declared that his family and descendants would take the surname Windsor. Today, if the Queen is in residence, which is frequently, you will see the Royal Standard flying, if not, the Union Flag flies. The dominant structure of Windsor Castle is the Round Tower, or Keep, 80 ft (24.5 m) high, built on the site where, according to tradition, King Arthur sat with the Knights of the Round Table. It was used as a prison until 1660 and is still surrounded by a moat Visitors can walk around the state apartments and extensive suites of rooms at the heart of the working palace. The rooms are furnished with treasures from the Royal Collection including paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Holbein, Rubens, Van Dyck and Lawrence. The fourteenth-century St. George's Chapel is the burial place of ten sovereigns. In recent history, a fire broke out in Windsor Castle in 1992. It began in the Private Chapel when a spotlight came into contact with a curtain over a prolonged period of time and ignited the material. It took 15 hours and a million and a half gallons of water to put out the blaze. Nine principal rooms and over 100 other rooms over an area of 9,000 square metres were damaged or destroyed by the fire, approximately one-fifth of the Castle area. After five years' intensive work, the restoration of Windsor Castle was completed in November 1997. As you cycle towards the Palace you will see the Round Tower which is visible for many miles over the surrounding flatland. Home Park (500 acres of parkland) adjoins the castle and Windsor Great Park, largely a public park, is south of Home Park. The castle grounds include a 3 mile long tree-lined avenue, leading from Home Park into Great Park. Isn't the Queen just great to let us cycle through Home Park. Castle
Visitor Information Office Information Windsor Castle |
||
|
|
