The global’s biggest and oldest constantly occupied castle, Windsor Castle is a majestic vision of battlements and towers. Used for country events, it’s one of the Queen’s essential residences; while she’s at home, the Royal Standard flies from the Round Tower.
History
The story of Windsor Castle commenced in 1071, while William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a hilltop, earth-and-wood fort. A century later, his terrific-grandson Henry II changed it with a stone spherical tower. Edward III brought a Gothic palace; Elizabeth I, the robust North Terrace; and Charles II gave the State Apartments a baroque makeover, creating an ‘English Versailles’. George III stuck on turrets and battlements, to make it look more medieval, while George IV inserted a modern-day palace into the historic ensemble. After one thousand years of rebuilding, the 951-room citadel therefore shows an first-rate range of architectural styles, from half of-timbered fired brick to Gothic stonework.
Inside Windsor Castle
The citadel precincts are divided into the Lower, Middle and Upper Wards. A visit will take you through the lavish State Apartments and exquisite chapels; certain regions may be off limits if in use. Here are a number of the highlights:
Inner Hall
Created by using George IV inside the 1820s as a welcoming area for heads of state and respectable visitors, this hall turned into later closed by way of Queen Victoria in 1866 – its entry sealed by using a stone wall – and used primarily for storage area for a hundred and fifty years. Reopened to the public in 2019, recuperation works included chipping off layers of paint to show the problematic Regency ceiling bosses created by way of stuccoist Francis Bernasconi, and linking the visitor front on the North Terrace with the State Entrance Hall on the south side, which offers an uninterrupted view of the Long Walk. Also on show are stone remnants believed to be part of the homes constructed by way of Henry I round 1110.
Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House
Filling a side chamber as you method the State Apartments from the North Terrace of the Upper Ward, this dazzling introduction is not a toy but a masterpiece of clever miniaturization. Designed at 1:12 scale through Sir Edwin Lutyens for Queen Mary, and finished in 1924, it displays an outstanding interest to element. It’s ready with fully purposeful plumbing, including flushing bathrooms, plus electric lighting, tiny Crown Jewels, a silver service and wine cellar, or even a fleet of six vehicles within the garage.
State Apartments
The State Apartments, within the fort’s Upper Ward, reverberate with history and style. Around two dozen rooms are typically open to the general public, with the crossed swords, suits of armour and banners of the initial Grand Staircase putting the tone.
A seated statue of Queen Victoria presides over the Grand Vestibule at the top, which presentations tribute and trophies from the British Empire. Highlights consist of a life-sized tiger’s head of gold with crystal enamel, seized from Tipu, sultan of Mysore, and the musket ball that killed Lord Nelson. The Waterloo Chamber beyond, commemorating the 1815 struggle, is festooned with graphics of victorious generals and diplomats.
Two self-guided routes – ceremonial and historical – take inside the terrifi St George’s Hall, the headquarters of the 24-robust order of the Knights of the Garter, which is still used for kingdom banquets. Its ornate ceiling, re-created following a devastating hearth in 1992 – it began in the adjacent Lantern Lobby – holds the shields of Knights past and present. Blank shields document “degraded” knights expelled from the order; most are foreign royals who declared warfare on Britain.
Beyond the Grand Reception Room, in which the Queen hosts kingdom visits, lie 10 chambers distinct because the King’s Rooms and Queen’s Rooms. Largely created by way of Charles II, they’re bursting with opulent fixtures, tapestries, frescoed ceilings and carved wall panels, as well as paintings via Hans Holbein, Bruegel, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, Van Dyck and Gainsborough. The Queen’s Guard Chamber, bristling with pistols and swords, holds statues and busts of army leaders including Sir Winston Churchill.
St George’s Chapel
This fashionable chapel, commissioned for the Order of the Garter with the aid of Edward IV in 1475, is a quality example of Perpendicular Gothic structure. The nave and beautiful fan-vaulted roof were finished under Henry VII, and the final nail pushed under Henry VIII in 1528.
Along with Westminster Abbey, it serves as a royal mausoleum. Both Henry VIII and Charles I lie below the fantastically carved fifteenth-century Quire, even as the Queen’s father (George VI) and mom (Queen Elizabeth) rest in a aspect chapel. It’s additionally where Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in May 2018, and in which Prince Philip’s funeral passed off in 2021.
Albert Memorial Chapel
Built in 1240 and committed to Edward the Confessor, the small Albert Memorial Chapel changed into the place of worship for the Order of the Garter until St George’s Chapel, alongside, snatched away that honour. After Prince Albert died at Windsor Castle in 1861, Queen Victoria ordered the chapel to be restored as a monument to her husband, including a spectacular vaulted roof that incorporates gold mosaic portions from Venice.
Although the chapel holds a monument to the prince, he’s virtually buried, with Victoria, inside the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore House in Windsor Great Park. Their youngest son, Prince Leopold (Duke of Albany), is, however, buried right here.
Changing of the Guard
A terrifi spectacle, with victorious tunes from a army band and lots of foot stamping from smartly attired troops in purple uniforms and bearskin caps, the converting of the defend draws crowds to Windsor Castle every day. Although the Household Troops march through the streets of Windsor, the actual handover takes place inside the Lower Ward or, whilst the Queen is in authentic residence, the Quadrangle in the Upper Ward. Weather permitting, it normally takes area at 11am on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but that is concern to alternate. Check the Household Division internet site for extra records.
Tickets
Entry is timed and tickets need to be booked in advance. The fee consists of a multimedia guide. If you want to go to
once more, your ticket can be converted to a yr-long skip – just ask a member of workforce earlier than you go away.