Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/847

Rh WINDSOR, NEW. 835 WINDSOR, NEW. petty sessions twice a week, and quarter sessions. The town consists of six principal streets, intersected by several smaller ones, and has many well-built houses, chiefly of brick. It is well paved, lighted with gas, and amply supplied with water. There are also some sporting establishments connected with the race-course at Ascot, large preserves of game, several ecclesiastical foundations, and great facilities for hunting, boating, and fishing. The principal public buildings are a spacious guildhall on arches, built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1686, with statues of Queen Anne and Prince George of Denmark outside, and portraits of many sovereigns and distinguished personages in the court rooms ; beneath the hall is held the corn-market ; the theatre in Thames- street was built in 1815 at a cost of near 60,000 ; the borough gaol is a small building ; there are also a savings-bank, dispensary and infirmary, branch hank, infantry barracks in Sheet-street, cavalry barracks at Spitul, and George III.'s jubilee pillar at Bachelor's Acre, an old public playground. The great glory, however, of Windsor is its castle, situated on a gentle acclivity, partly artificial, commanding a view of the Thames, with parts of 1'2 counties, the distant metropolis, and St. Paul's cathedral distinctly visible from the top of the watch, or flag turret. This pile originated in a hunting-lodge, or military post, founded by William the Conqueror in 1071, in connection with the original palace of the Saxon kings at Old Windsor about two miles distant, and which continued to be occasionally occupied by tha English kings until 1110, when Henry I., having rebuilt the lodge, or castle, of New Windsor, for the first time kept his court there at Whitsuntide, and in 1122 celebrated his nuptial festivities with the Princess Adelais of Lorraine. After this, Old Windsor lost its consequence, and the present castle became the state palace of the English sovereigns. In 1170, Henry II. held a parliament here, and in 1216, John was besieged in it by the barons. In the baronial wars of Henry III. it was frequently attacked by the contend- ing parties, and in 1263, was occupied by Simon do llontfort and the barons. The next kings frequently resided at Windsor, and Edward III. was born in the castle, from which circumstance he received the name of Edward of Windsor. He held a tournament here in 1344, and instituted the Order of the Garter in 1349. Under tins sovereign the castle was entirely rebuilt by William of Wykeham, who was appointed clerk of the works in 1366, with a fee of one shilling a day whilst at Windsor, and two shillings when elsewhere. No part of William I.'s lodge was preserved, except three towers at the western end of the lower ward. In 137-3 were completed the King's Palace, the Great Hall of St. George, or banqueting room, 180 feet by 32, where the Knights of the Garter are installed, and where is the throne ; the Round Tower, or Keep, which is machico- lated, as are most of the larger towers, and 148 feet high from the quadrangle, or 295 feet from the level of the Little Park to the top of the flag-staff ; the chapel of St. George, subsequently rebuilt by Edward IV. ; the lodgings on the E. and S. sides of the upper ward, the houses of the canons in the lower ward ; and the whole of the walls with the towers and gates covering an area of 12 acres. Most of the succeeding kings contributed in some way to the building. Henry VII. restored the choir, and added new buildings in the upper ward ; Honry VIII. built the lower ward gate leading to the town; Edward VI. andMarybuiltthelbuntain; Elizabeth formed the N. terrace, which commands the celebrated view, and which, as extended by Charles II., measures 1,870 feet in length, surrounding the three sides of the castle, and having a corridor 450 feet by 15, replete with portraits and works of art. Charles I. built the Park gate, and was prisoner here in 1648, in the hands of the parliament, who garrisoned the castle in 1652 and 1G5U. In the reigns of Charles II. and Jamoa II. groat improvements were effected in the interior, and of the ceilings were painted by Verrio. The pillcries and state apartments were likewise fur- nished with the choicest works of the first masters VOL. III. in place of the royal pictures which had disappeared during the Revolution. George III. restored tho N. front of the upper ward, and St. George's chapel ; but to George IV. is due the completely restoring, at a cost of near a million of money, this the most magnifi- cent building of the kind in Europe. Her gracious Majesty the Queen has carried out many minor im- provements, and has recently caused to be inserted a memorial window, by Scott, in tho royal chapel of St. George's, in memory of his late Royal Highness the Prince Consort, who exerted himself so nobly on tho 19th of March, 1853, in extinguishing the fire which broke out in the Prince of Wales' Tower, at the N.E. angle of the castle, and at one time threatened serious consequences to the whole structure, but was fortunately confined to the tower in which it originated, causing damage only to the amount of 6,000. To attempt any adequate description of tho beauties and art treasures of this state castle of tho British sovereigns would be beyond the scope of the present work, and may be more agreeably studied by a visit to the castle, the stato apartments being viewable by Lord Chamberlain's ticket on any days except Wednesday and Sunday, and tho private apartments during the absence of the court. The stables attached to the palace are on a large scale, and have a good riding school. In the Little, or Home, Park, consisting of 500 acres of land, first laid out by William III., is Frogmore, the favourite seat of Queen Charlotte, and more recently of the Duchess of Kent. In an adjacent park, known as Queen Eliza- beth's Walk, is the site of Herne the Hunter's Oak, celebrated by Shakspeare, the shattered trunk of which was blown down on tho 31st of August, 1863. The Fairie's Dell has been partially filled up, but the late Prince Consort had much of the earth removed, when the remains of large oaks in an upright position were discovered. Here, too, are the Queen's poultry- houses, and the royal gardens, with a range of 920 feet of glasshouses. The Long Walk, an avenue of elms 3 miles long by 290 feet bro.id, loads to the colossal equestrian statue of George III., in bronze, by West- macott, 26 feet high, on a rough pedestal of 40 feet. The Great Park, which we have now entered, covers 10,000 acres, containing plantations of beech, oak, elms, and chestnut, part of which is navy timber. It contains the Norfolk Farm of 1,000 acres, the Flemish Farm of 400, both established by George III. ; tho Model Farm of the late Prince Consort ; Virginia Water, an artificial lake surrounded by plantations, with a fishing temple, and a group of the Elgin marbles ; the Sandpit- gate heronry ; Cranbourn Tower, once the residence of the Princess Charlotte; Cumberland Lodge, built for the Duke of Cumberland, who, as ranger, after the battle of Culloden, lived here, and to whose memory there is a pillar in the same part of the forest as the King's Oak, a hollow stump 7 to 8 feet in diameter, traditionally stated to have been a favourite of William the Conqueror. There are also oaks named after Queens Anne, Caroline, Charlotte, Adelaide, and her gracious Majesty Victoria, tho last being bare for 50 feet up. Many princes and great men have been im- prisoned in tho round tower and other parts of the castle, including John, King of France ; David, of Scotland ; James I., of Scotland, who wrote his " King's Quhair," or book, when prisoner here in 1414-7 ; Earl of Surrey, the poet, who wrote his verses to his mistress ; Charles I. ; tho Earls of Lauderdale and Lindsay ; and the Marshal de Belleisle. The Marquis of Bute takes tho inferior title of Earl from Windsor, and Garter King-at-Arms, the stylo of Windsor Herald. It is the head of New County Court, Poor-law Union, and Superintendent Registry district. One newspaper, the Windsor and Eton Express, is published in the town. The population of tho borough in 1851 was 9,596, and in 1861, 9,520, inhabiting 1,577 houses. The collegiate church is within the castle, and is officiated by tho dean and canons under tho Bishop of Winchester, who is Prelate of the Garter. Tho living, however, of the par. of New Windsor is a vie. in the dioc. of Oxford,