Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle, principal residence of the British sovereigns. It is situated in the municipal borough of Windsor, or New Windsor, England, about 35 km (about 22 mi) west of London. The site is located northeast of the town on a slight elevation overlooking the Thames River. Home Park adjoins the castle on the north, east, and south; Windsor Great Park, largely a public park, is south of Home Park. Noteworthy features of the castle grounds include a magnificent tree-lined avenue, more than 5 km (more than 3 mi) long, leading from Home Park into Great Park; and Virginia Water, a lovely artificial lake.

The dominant structure of Windsor Castle is the Round Tower, or Keep, 24.5 m (80 ft) high, built on the site where, according to tradition, King Arthur sat with the knights of the Round Table. It was used as a prison until 1660 and is still surrounded by a moat. Another distinctive building is Saint George's Chapel, begun about 1474 by King Edward IV and completed in 1528 by King Henry VIII. The chapel, with its detailed stone vaulting, is a masterpiece of late Perpendicular architecture. It is the burial place of ten British sovereigns. The adjoining Albert Memorial Chapel, originally built by King Henry III in the 13th century as a memorial to Edward the Confessor, last of the Anglo-Saxon kings, was lavishly restored by Queen Victoria as a monument to Albert, her prince consort. The state apartments in the Upper Ward, including the celebrated Saint George's Hall, the Waterloo Chamber, the Throne Room, the Rubens Room, and the Van Dyck Room, contain valuable collections of paintings, statuary, and other priceless art objects. Frogmore, the mausoleum of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, is located in Home Park.

Old Windsor was a residence of the Anglo-Saxon kings before the Norman Conquest. King William I (the Conqueror), who came from Normandy (Normandie) and successfully seized the English throne, built a castle at the present site about 1070. It was extended by his successors and was virtually rebuilt about 1344, during the reign of Edward III, as a gathering place for the knights of the Garter; their insignia line the walls of St. George's Chapel and their investitures are still held in St. George's Hall. Later British monarchs added to and improved the castle.

In 1992 a fire badly damaged the northeastern corner of the castle. Saint George's Hall, the Waterloo Chamber, and the private chapel, where the fire started, were destroyed in the blaze.