6 Facts about Historical Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is a royal residence in the English county of Berkshire, in the town of Windsor. It is closely associated with the English royal family and subsequent British royal families, and it represents more than a millennium of architectural history. Windsor Palace is the biggest and oldest occupied castle in the world. The art gallery is open to the public throughout the year. Windsor Castle, the world’s largest habitable castle, has served as a royal residence and fortress for nearly 900 years and is still in use today. The Queen appears to use the Castle both as a personal residence, in which she needs to spend her weekends, and an official Royal residence, where she performs formal duties such as Investitures and State Visits. Windsor Castle is available to the public, and guests can learn about the castle’s history and significance. Take a look around with our site.

Where is Windsor Castle located?

Windsor Castle is located in Windsor, Berkshire, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from central London. Windsor is located on the Thames’s banks, to the southwest of Slough and west of London Heathrow.

Windsor Castle

When was Windsor Castle build?

After William the Conqueror’s Norman invasion of England in the 11th century, the initial fortress was completed. It has been used by the ruling monarch since Henry I’s reign (1100–1135), and it is Europe’s longest-occupied palace. Hugh Roberts, an early 20th century art historian, praised the castle’s sumptuous early 19th-century State Apartments as “a spectacular and unrivaled sequence of chambers widely acknowledged as the finest and most complete embodiment of later Georgian style.” St George’s Chapel, built in the 15th century, was described by historian John Martin Robinson as within the castle walls is “one of the greatest triumphs of English Perpendicular Gothic” design.

Who lives in Windsor Castle?

Windsor Castle is indeed the royal palace of the Queen, who visits on weekends and stays for a month at Easter and a week during in the Royal Ascot event in the summer. The Constable and Governor of Royal Palace, as well as the Dean of Windsor, live and work at that Castle.

Windsor Castle’s Architecture

Windsor Palace is a stronghold, a palace, and a small town all rolled into one. Its grounds encompass 52,609 square meters (13.000 acres) and combine the qualities of a fortification, a palace, and a small town. The current castle was built over the course of several phases, culminating in the repair work following a fire in 1992. It’s essentially a Georgian and Victorian design based on a medieval structure, with Gothic elements remained in a contemporary form. The castle’s architecture has attempted to produce a contemporary version of past fashions and traditions since the 14th century, repeatedly emulating obsolete or even archaic designs.

As a result, despite late-20th century efforts to expose more of the older structures to increase the sense of authenticity, architect Sir William Whitfield has described Windsor Castle’s architecture as having “a certain fictive quality,” with the Picturesque and Gothic design generating “a sense that a theatrical performance is being put on here.”Despite some criticism, the architecture and history of the castle have earned it a “place among the greatest European palaces.”

Windsor Castle

The Park and Landscape of Windsor Castle

The gardens at Windsor Castle are limited in scale due to the castle’s location on top of hilly ground. The castle gardens continue east from the Upper Ward along a 19th-century terrace. A wide parkland area surrounds Windsor Palace. The Home Park, which stretches to the east of the castle, was built in the nineteenth century. The Home Park is made up of parks, two working farms, and an amount of property cottages mainly occupied by employees and the Frogmore estate. The Long Walk is a double-lined tree-lined avenue that runs 2.65 miles (4.26 kilometers) south of the castle and is 240 feet (75 meters) wide. The ancient elms were replaced by chestnut and plane trees in the 17th century. As a result of the spread of Dutch elm disease.

The Home Park, which spans 5,000 acres (2,020 ha) and includes some of Europe’s oldest broadleaved forests, is located on the northern edge of the larger Windsor Great Park. A private school, St George’s, is located in the Home Park, to the north of the castle, and provides choristers for the chapel. Eton College is roughly half a mile from the castle, across the River Thames, and was founded by Henry VI as a royal institution.

What is the best way to go to Windsor Castle?

Trains run every 22 minutes from London Paddington to Windsor and Eton Central station, taking as little as 22 minutes. In addition, trains travel from London Waterloo to Windsor and Eton Riverside in under an hour.

Otherwise, depart from Victoria in central London for a leisurely afternoon or full day coach excursion.

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4 thoughts on “6 Facts about Historical Windsor Castle”

  1. Windsor is such a magnificent & beautiful castle! My great great grandparents on my dad’s side of the family came from England!
    One of these days I would love to go to England to do research on my dad’s side of the family:
    Spidell & Hammett!

    Reply

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