On the south side of the Ward is King Henry VIII's gateway, which bears the coat of arms of Catherine of Aragon and forms the secondary entrance to the castle.
Windsor Castle's position on top of steep ground has meant that the castle's gardens are limited in scale.[60] HP Pavilion dv5-1050eo CPU Fan The castle gardens stretch east from the Upper Ward across a 20th-century terrace.[61] Windsor Castle is surrounded by extensive parkland. The immediate area stretching to the east of the castle is a 19th-century creation known as the Home Park.[62] SONY VGN-SZ220 CPU Fan The Home Park includes parkland and two working farms, along with many estate cottages mainly occupied by employees and the Frogmore estate. The Long Walk, a double lined avenue of trees, runs for 3 miles (5 km) south of the castle, and is 240 ft (75 m) wide.[63] The original 17th-century elms were replaced with alternating chestnut and plane trees. Dell Studio XPS 1645 CPU FanThe impact of Dutch elm disease led to large-scale replanting after 1945.[64]
The Home Park adjoins the northern edge of the more extensive Windsor Great Park, occupying some 4,800 acres (1,900 ha) and including some of the oldestbroadleaved woodlands in Europe.[65] ACER eMachines 7230 CPU FanIn the Home Park, to the north of the castle, stands a private school, St George's, which provides choristers to the chapel.Eton College is located within about half a mile of the castle, across the River Thames.
Windsor Castle was originally built by William the Conqueror in the decade after the Norman conquest of 1066.[66] DELL Latitude E4300 CPU Fan William established a defensive ring of motte and bailey castles around London; each was a day's march – about 20 miles (32 km) – from the city and from the next castle, allowing for easy reinforcements in a crisis.[66] Windsor Castle, one of this ring of fortifications, was strategically important because of its proximity to both the River Thames, SONY Vaio VGN-A29LP CPU Fan a key medieval route into London, and Windsor Forest, a royal hunting preserve previously used by the Saxon kings.[67] The nearby settlement of Clivore, or Clewer, was an old Saxonresidence. The initial wooden castle consisted of a keep on the top of a man-made motte, or mound, HP Pavilion dv7t-6100 CTO CPU Fan protected by a small bailey wall, occupying a chalk inlier, or bluff, rising 100 ft (30 m) above the river.[68] A second wooden bailey was constructed to the east of the keep, forming the later Upper Ward.[69] By the end of the century, another bailey had been constructed to the west, creating the basic shape of the modern castle.[ HP Pavilion dv7-3163cl CPU FanIn design, Windsor most closely resembled Arundel Castle, another powerful early Norman fortification, but the double bailey design was also found at Rockingham and Alnwick Castle.[71]
Windsor was not initially used as a royal residence; HP Pavilion dv7-4140ed CPU Fan the early Norman kings preferred to use the former palace of Edward the Confessor in the village of Old Windsor.[72] The first king to use Windsor Castle as a residence was Henry I, who celebratedWhitsuntide at the castle in 1110 during a period of heightened insecurity.[73] Compaq Presario CQ60-155ep CPU Fan Henry's marriage to Adela, the daughter of Godfrey of Louvain, took place in the castle in 1121. During this period the keep suffered a substantial collapse – archaeological evidence shows that the southern side of the motte subsided by over 6 ft (2 m).[74] HP Mini 110-3000sd CPU Fan Timber piles were driven in to support the motte and the old wooden keep was replaced with a new stone shell keep, with a probable gateway to the north-east and a new stone well.[75] Achemise, or low protective wall, was subsequently added to the keep.[75] Compaq Presario CQ60-155ep CPU Fan Henry II came to the throne in 1154 and built extensively at Windsor between 1165 and 1179.[69] Henry replaced the wooden palisade surrounding the upper ward with a stone wall interspersed with square towers and built the first King's Gate.[69] The first stone keep was suffering from subsidence, SONY Vaio VPC-EA46FM/B CPU Fan and cracks were beginning to appear in the stonework of the south side.[75] Henry replaced the keep with another stone shell keep and chemise wall, but moved the walls in from the edge of the motte to relieve the pressure on the mound, and added massive foundations along the south side to provide additional support.[75] Toshiba Satellite L500-1XL CPU FanInside the castle Henry remodelled the royal accommodation.[69] Bagshot Heath stone was used for most of the work, and stone from Bedfordshire for the internal buildings.
King John undertook some building works at Windsor, but primarily to the accommodation rather than the defences.[77] HP Mini 110-3000sd CPU Fan The castle played a role during the revolt of the English barons: the castle was besieged in 1214, and John used the castle as his base during the negotiations before the signing of the Magna Carta at nearby Runnymede in 1215.[77] In 1216 the castle was besieged again by baronial and French troops under the command of the Count of Nevers, but John's constable, Engelard de Cigogné, successfully defended it.[77] HP Pavilion dv7-3162nr CPU Fan The damage done to the castle during the second siege was immediately repaired in 1216 and 1221 by Cigogne on behalf of John's successor Henry III, who further strengthened the defences.[78] The walls of the Lower Ward were rebuilt in stone, complete with a gatehouse in the location of the future Henry VIII Gate, between 1224 and 1230.[69] HP 480481-001 CPU FanThree new towers, the Curfew, Garter and the Salisbury towers, were constructed.[77] The Middle Ward was heavily reinforced with a southern stone wall, protected by the new Edward III and Henry III towers at each end.[69]
Windsor Castle was one of Henry's three favourite residences and he invested heavily in the royal accommodation, HP 622029-001 CPU Fan spending more money at Windsor than in any other of his properties.[79][nb 6] Following his marriage to Eleanor of Provence, Henry built a luxurious palace in 1240–63, based around a court along the north side of the Upper Ward.[80] This was intended primarily for the queen and Henry's children.[69] Toshiba Satellite L555-12P CPU Fan In the Lower Ward, the king ordered the construction of a range of buildings for his own use along the south wall, including a 70 ft (21 m) long chapel, later called the Lady Chapel.[81] This was the grandest of the numerous chapels built for his own use, and comparable to the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris in size and quality.[82] HP GB0507PGV1-A CPU Fan Henry repaired the Great Hall that lay along the north side of the Lower Ward, and enlarged it with a new kitchen and built a covered walkway between the Hall and the kitchen.[81] Henry's work was characterised by the religious overtones of the rich decorations, which formed "one of the high-water marks of English medieval art".[83] HP Pavilion dv7-1135nr CPU Fan The conversion cost more than £10,000.[78] The result was to create a division in the castle between a more private Upper Ward and a Lower Ward devoted to the public face of the monarchy.[53] Little further building was carried out at the castle during the 13th century; the Great Hall in the Lower Ward was destroyed by fire in 1296, but it was not rebuilt. Dell Latitude E6510 CPU Fan Edward III was born at Windsor Castle and used it extensively throughout his reign.[84] In 1344 the king announced the foundation of the new Order of the Round Table at the castle.[3] Edward began to construct a new building in the castle to host this order, but it was never finished.[3] HP Pavilion dv5-2132dx CPU Fan
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