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An Apollonaut travel guide
A castle and its crown.
A Norman fortress, a chivalric order and nearly a thousand years of royal life offer several ways into the story of Windsor Castle.
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A castle above the Thames
William the Conqueror chose a chalk mound above the Thames for a castle in the decade after 1066. Henry I made it a royal residence, and Henry II rebuilt its walls and keep in stone.
The castle has been used by the monarch ever since, and it remains one of the official residences of the monarch today.
The Order of the Garter
Edward III made Windsor the home of the Order of the Garter and rebuilt the castle between 1350 and 1377. Edward IV began St George’s Chapel in 1475 as the Order’s spiritual home.
The annual Garter service is still held in the chapel, where Henry VIII, Charles I and Queen Elizabeth II are among those buried.
Rooms of state
Charles II gave the state apartments Baroque interiors with Hugh May, the painter Antonio Verrio and the carver Grinling Gibbons. George IV had them remodelled by Jeffry Wyatville from 1824.
After the fire of 1992, restorers rebuilt the destroyed rooms by 1997; St George’s Hall received a hammer-beam roof of green oak designed by Giles Downes. The History page offers a longer introduction.
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Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
