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 Chroniclers described it as a round building, 200 ft (61 m) across, and it was probably in the centre of the Upper Ward.[85] Shortly afterwards, Edward abandoned the new order for reasons that remain unclear, and instead established the Order of the Garter, again with Windsor Castle as its headquarters, Compaq Presario CQ60-307ea CPU Fan complete with the attendant Poor Knights of Windsor.[3] As part of this process Edward decided to rebuild Windsor Castle, in particular Henry III's palace, in an attempt to construct a castle that would be symbolic of royal power and chivalry.[86] Edward was influenced both by the military successes of his grandfather, HP Pavilion dv6-2010sa CPU FanEdward I, and by the decline of royal authority under his father, Edward II, and aimed to produce an innovative, "self-consciously aesthetic, muscled, martial architecture".[87]
Edward placed William of Wykeham in overall charge of the rebuilding and design of the new castle and whilst work was ongoing Edward stayed in temporary accommodation in the Round Tower.[ Toshiba Satellite A40-702 CPU Fan Between 1350 and 1377 Edward spent £51,000 on renovating Windsor Castle; this was the largest amount spent by any English medieval monarch on a single building operation, and over one and a half times Edward's typical annual income of £30,000.[SONY Vaio VGN-AR21B CPU Fan Some of the costs of the castle were paid from the results of ransoms following Edward's victories at the battles of Crécy, Calais and Poitiers.[84] Windsor Castle was already a substantial building before Edward began expanding it, making the investment all the more impressive, and much of the expenditure was lavished on rich furnishings.[89] SONY Vaio VPC-EB3E1E/PI CPU FanThe castle was "the most expensive secular building project of the entire Middle Ages in England".[3]
Edward's new palace consisted of three courts along the north side of the Upper Ward, called Little Cloister, King's Cloister and the Kitchen Court.[90] SONY Vaio VPC-EB3E1E/WI CPU Fan At the front of the palace lay the St George's Hall range, which combined a new hall and a new chapel. This range had two symmetrical gatehouses, the Spicerie Gatehouse and the Kitchen Gatehouse. The Spicerie Gatehouse was the main entrance into the palace, whilst the Kitchen Gatehouse simply led into the kitchen courtyard.[91] SONY Vaio VGN-FS660/W CPU Fan The great hall had numerous large windows looking out across the ward.[92] The range had an unusual, unified roof-line and, with a taller roof than the rest of the palace, would have been highly distinctive.[93] The Rose Tower, designed for the king's private use, set off the west corner of the range.[90] HP Pavilion G61-631NR CPU Fan The result was a "great and apparently architecturally unified palace ... uniform in all sorts of ways, as to roof line, window heights, cornice line, floor and ceiling heights".[94] With the exception of the Hall, Chapel and the Great Chamber, the new interiors all shared a similar height and width.[ HP Pavilion dv6560el CPU FanThe defensive features, however, were primarily for show, possibly to provide a backdrop for jousting between the two halves of the Order of the Garter.
Edward built further luxurious, self-contained lodgings for his court around the east and south edges of the Upper Ward, creating the modern shape of the quadrangle.[6] HP Pavilion dv6-2128ca CPU Fan The Norman gate was built to secure the west entrance to the Ward.[84] In the Lower Ward, the chapel was enlarged and remodelled with grand buildings for the canons built alongside.[84] The earliest weight-driven mechanical clock in England was installed by Edward III in the Round Tower in 1354.[96] HP Pavilion dv7-3004el CPU FanWilliam of Wykeham went on to build New College, Oxford and Winchester College, where the influence of Windsor Castle can easily be seen.[84]
The new castle was used to hold French prisoners taken in at Poitiers in 1357, including John II, who was held for a considerable ransom.[97] HP Pavilion dv7-4050ev CPU FanLater in the century, the castle also found favour with Richard II. Richard conducted restoration work on St George's Chapel, the work being carried out by Geoffrey Chaucer, who served as a diplomat and Clerk of The King's Works.
Windsor Castle continued to be favoured by monarchs in the 15th century, despite England beginning to slip into increasing political violence.[98] HP G42-367TU CPU Fan Henry IV seized the castle during his coup in 1399, although failing to catch Richard II, who had escaped to London.[98] Under Henry V, the castle hosted a visit from the Holy Roman Emperor in 1417, a massive diplomatic event that stretched the accommodation of the castle to its limits.[99] HP Pavilion dv5-1172el CPU Fan By the middle of the 15th century England was increasingly divided between the rival royal factions of the Lancastrians and the Yorkists. Castles such as Windsor did not play a decisive role during the resulting Wars of the Roses (1455–85), which were fought primarily in the form of pitched battles between the rival factions.[ Toshiba Satellite A105-S4084 CPU Fan Henry VI, born at Windsor Castle and known as Henry of Windsor, became king at the young age of nine months.[101] His long period of minority, coupled with the increasing tensions between Henry's Lancastrian supporters and the Yorkists, distracted attention from Windsor.[102] HP Pavilion dv4-1038tx CPU FanThe Garter Feasts and other ceremonial activities at the castle became more infrequent and less well attended.Edward IV seized power in 1461. When Edward captured Henry's wife, Margaret of Anjou, she was brought back to be detained at the castle.[103] Edward began to revive the Order of the Garter, and held a particularly lavish feast in 1472.[104] HP Pavilion dv7-3060sb CPU Fan
Edward began the construction of the presentSt. George's Chapel in 1475, resulting in the dismantling of several of the older buildings in the Lower Ward.[105] By building the grand chapel Edward was seeking to show that his new dynasty were the permanent rulers of England, HP Pavilion dv7-6055sf CPU Fan and may also have been attempting to deliberately rival the similar chapel that Henry VI had ordered to be constructed at nearby Eton College.[102] Richard III made only a brief use of Windsor Castle before his defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, but had the body of Henry VI moved from Chertsey Abbey in Surrey to the castle to allow it to be visited by pilgrims more easily.[106] SONY VGN-CS108D CPU Fan Henry VII made more use of Windsor. In 1488, shortly after succeeding to the throne, he held a massive feast for the Order of the Garter at the castle.[107] He completed the roof of St George's Chapel, and set about converting the older eastern Lady Chapel into a proposed shrine to Henry VI, whose canonisation was then considered imminent.[107] DELL XPS M170 CPU Fan In the event, Henry VI was not canonised and the project was abandoned, although the shrine continued to attract a flood of pilgrims.[108] Henry VII appears to have remodelled the King's Chamber in the palace, and had the roof of the Great Kitchen rebuilt in 1489.[109HP Pavilion G72-b15SV CPU Fan ] He also built a three-storied tower on the west end of the palace, which he used for his personal apartments.[110] Windsor began to be used for international diplomatic events, including the grand visit of Philip I of Castile in 1506.[107] William de la Pole, one of the surviving Yorkist claimants to the throne, HP G62-120ES CPU Fanwas imprisoned at Windsor Castle during Henry's reign, before his execution in 1513.
Henry VIII enjoyed Windsor Castle, as a young man "exercising himself daily in shooting, singing, dancing, wrestling, casting of the bar, playing at the recorders, flute, virginals, in setting of songs and making of ballads".[112] HP Pavilion dv6-3034ss CPU Fan The tradition of the Garter Feasts was maintained and became more extravagant; the size of the royal retinue visiting Windsor had to be restricted because of the growing numbers.[113] During the Pilgrimage of Grace, a huge uprising in the north of England against Henry's rule in 1536, HP Pavilion dv7-3165ef CPU Fanthe king used Windsor as a secure base in the south from which to manage his military response.[114] Throughout the Tudor period, Windsor was also used as a safe retreat in the event of plagues occurring in London.[115]
Henry rebuilt the principal castle gateway in about 1510 and constructed a tennis court at the base of the motte in the Upper Ward.[116] HP X16-1000 Series CPU Fan He also built a long terrace, called the North Wharf, along the outside wall of the Upper Ward; constructed of wood, it was designed to provide a commanding view of the River Thames below.[109] The design included an outside staircase into the king's apartments, which made the monarch's life more comfortable at the expense of considerably weakening the castle's defences.[117] IBM ThinkPad Z61m CPU Fan Early in his reign, Henry had given the eastern Lady Chapel to Cardinal Wolsey for Wolsey's future mausoleum.[118] Benedetto Grazzini converted much of this into an Italian Renaissance design, before Wolsey's fall from power brought an end to the project, with contemporaries estimating that around £60,000 (£295 million in 2008 terms) had been spent on the work.[119] ACER Aspire One D250 CPU FanHenry continued the project, but it remained unfinished when he himself was buried in the chapel, in an elaborate funeral in 1547.
By contrast, the young Edward VI disliked Windsor Castle.[121] Edward's Protestant beliefs led him to simplify the Garter ceremonies, to discontinue the annual Feast of the Garter at Windsor and to remove any signs of Catholic practices with the Order.[122] ACER Ferrari 4000 CPU Fan During the rebellions and political strife of 1549, Windsor was again used as a safe-haven for the king and the Duke of Somerset.[123] Edward famously commented whilst staying at Windsor Castle during this period that "Methink I am in a prison, here are no galleries, nor no gardens to walk in".[121HP G42-367TU CPU Fan ] Under both Edward and his sister, Mary I, some limited building work continued at the castle, in many cases using resources recovered from the English abbeys.[124] Water was piped into the Upper Ward to create a fountain.[109] Mary also expanded the buildings used by the Knights of Windsor in the Lower Ward, using stone from Reading Abbey.[109] Toshiba Satellite L350-146 CPU Fan Elizabeth I spent much of her time at Windsor Castle and used it a safe haven in crises, "knowing it could stand a siege if need be".[125] Ten new brass cannons were purchased for the castle's defence.[126] It became one of her favourite locations and she spent more money on the property than on any of her other palaces.[127] HP Pavilion dv8335ea CPU Fan
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