Part 26, Windsor Castle

5/10/2017  Wednesday.   Sunny.   45F(London)/68F(Windsor)

May 10th was “Windsor Day”. We had our usual hotel breakfast buffet … not bad for a production operation … followed by our post-breakfast routine of letting it settle while resting back in our room. Not time-efficient perhaps, but it suits our temperament. This experience is to be enjoyed, not endured!

So finally around noon we were off. We caught the 12:53 train from the huge Waterloo Station next door out to the Windsor/Eton station west of London which took about an hour. As you leave central London, after getting past the big rail yard and big buildings there is an area of old rather depressing-looking row housing, then the neighborhoods gradually get better the farther out you go until reaching some areas of open fields near Windsor. Traveling at mid-day, the train to Windsor was practically empty … in fact we were the only people in our car.

When getting off the train in the village of Windsor, there is no ambiguity about where the castle is located because it’s on a hill right next to the train station … and it towers over the town … you have to walk around its walls and up the hill to get to its entrance on the opposite side. The town is very quaint and would be a great place to stay for a couple of days, both for exploring the town, and to get more time at Windsor Castle. Next time.

We picked up our audio guides at the visitor’s entrance and walked along the outside of the castle wall for a short distance, past some immaculately manicured lawns to the St. George’s Gate where we entered the castle. There you step into a world of English history that is rich and deep … to my surprise much more so than Hampton Court which we saw the day before. But ironically the extent of history at Windsor is masked and not always evident. At Hampton Court, the stages of palace transformation were fully on display as the newer sections were built side by side with the older sections, whereas at Windsor the oldest sections were torn down and completely replaced in its many transformations over the centuries.

There is, however, a remnant of the very oldest part of the castle just as you enter: a mound with a round stone tower on top.

Stepping back in time for a moment: for most of us with a casual acquaintance with English history, our starting point is the invasion of England by William the Conqueror of Normandy in 1066. After William successfully invaded England in 1066, he went about consolidating his power, protecting his troops, and guarding the approaches to London by building a ring of nine “motte and bailey” castles around the city, each about one day’s march (or about 20 miles) from the next castle in the chain, and the same distance from London. Windsor was the first of the ring of castles around London, built around 1070.

Here is an illustration of the concept of a motte and bailey castle:

Motte and Bailey Castle   (Source: castleworld.com)

The motte is a constructed mound of earth with a “keep” on top, which is a fortified structure serving as the last line of defense – the best protected area of the castle. Next to the motte is the “bailey” which is a protected courtyard and the whole compound is surrounded by a “palisade” or timber wall and an outside ditch … not even a moat. Think of the walls of sharpened vertical timber poles built by the U.S. Army on the American frontier in pioneer days and you get the idea. Quite primitive, but these were more primitive times of the Middle Ages, long before the Renaissance.

So the mound that you see just inside the St. George Gate is the “motte” built by William the Conqueror soon after his conquest.

Photo 6500.  William the Conqueror’s Motte; the Round Tower replaces the original Keep.
The Queen’s flag is flying — she is at Windsor this day

The original buildings of the castle are long gone, but the overall outline of the castle is still the same: the motte mound is at the center, and the walls still mark the original boundaries of the castle. To the left is what is now referred to as the Lower Ward, the motte is the Middle Ward, and to the right is the Upper Ward.

Below is a diagram of the Castle layout as it is today.

Photo 6469-3.  Modern Layout of Windsor Castle; Scott’s edits in blue
(Source: art-now-and-then.blogspot.com)

We entered the castle through St. George’s Gate, passed by the motte and Round Tower and were directed left down a side alley just inside the south wall to the Lower Ward.

We are left to contemplate the many historical events which occurred here or nearby — a timeline of events at Windsor reads like a timeline of English history. Here is a partial sampling:¹

Dark Ages: according to legend, Windsor Castle was built on the site of a Celtic camp where King Arthur once lived.

1066: William the Conqueror successfully invaded England and was crowned King of England in January 1067.

1070: William began construction of a chain of motte and bailey castles surrounding London, starting at Windsor.

1215: King John signed the Magna Carta at Runnymede some 3 miles southeast of Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle was used as a base by the participants of the signing.

Certainly the signing of the Magna Carta by King John in 1215 was one of greatest events of English history. The Magna Carta was an agreement forced on King John by rebellious Barons – it required that all freemen, including the king, must abide by due process of law. No unaccountable absolute power for the king. This fundamental concept of law survives to this day and is still the basis of U.S. law, in concept.

1475-1528: construction of the St. George’s Chapel in the Lower Ward of Windsor.

1642-1649: English Civil War; Windsor was seized by the parliamentarians, and was used as a prison for Royalists. King Charles I was imprisoned at Windsor before his trial in London in 1649. Imagine: overthrowing the monarchy and executing the king! He was buried in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor without ceremony or service, and there he remains.

1649: such was the anti-monarchy sentiment during the English Civil War, that a bill to demolish Windsor Castle was defeated by one vote. The office of king was abolished!

1917: under King George V, the British royal family changed its surname from the German name “Saxe-Coburg-Gotha” to “Windsor”, taking the name from the castle. This was due to anti-German sentiment during World War I. British royalty retains the surname Windsor today.

1992: part of the Upper Ward, including St. George’s Hall, was gutted by a major fire in 1992. Restoration took 5 years.

Note 1:  Source:  reference: http://www.ancientfortresses.org/windsor-castle-timeline-important-dates.htm .

In the Lower Ward we emerged from the alley, and the east end of St. George’s Chapel appeared before us. You couldn’t see that much from where we first glimpsed it, but as we walked around its south side all the Gothic detail came into view. It turns out to be an absolutely gorgeous cathedral with beautifully detailed stonework loaded with Gothic arches and flying buttresses, all done in stone that has a warm buff tone to it. It is built on a smaller, more human scale than the great cathedrals such as Notre Dame, St. Peter’s or Westminster Abbey. That’s because it has a smaller congregation – it was built as the chapel for the Order of the Garter, a British order of chivalry dating back to 1348, that has no more than 24 full members, known as Knights Companion or Ladies Companion. The Monarch, Queen Elizabeth, and the Prince of Wales are ex-officio members by virtue of their positions. There is currently only one female Lady Companion: Baroness Manningham-Butler, former Director-General of MI-5. Only one former PM is a current full member: Sir John Major. There are other lower grades of membership, but a huge cathedral is not required to serve them.

Photo 6494-1. South side of St. George’s Chapel in the Lower Ward at Windsor Castle.
(Source: Wikipedia, Aurelien Guichard, London, UK)

What St. George’s lacks in size it makes up for in the superb detailing of the stonework. This is what is referred to as the Perpendicular Style, identifiable by its unusually large windows, and especially by its “fan vaults”.

Photo 6498-5. Fan vaults in the Choir of St. George’s Chapel; pipe organ at lower center. Incidentally, the reason you see so many photos from the Internet here instead of our own is that no interior photography was allowed anywhere at Windsor. Most frustrating!
(Source: Wikimedia)

The inside columns and ceiling are particularly beautiful with the splayed ribs of the fan vaults “fanning out” to make intricate designs in the ceilings, all in stone. It’s really quite something. There is a small table with a mirror laid out horizontally at the center aisle of the nave so you can see all the fancy stone work above without straining your neck looking up! Add to that some lovely side chapels for the various kings and queens who have been buried here, and you get what for us was one of the more lovely cathedral tours we have experienced.

Photo 6498-3. The nave of St. George’s Chapel is awash with light from its large windows.
Note the particularly large stained glass window at the end.  (Source: Wikimedia)

The long axis of the chapel is separated into two parts by a huge pipe organ extending across the transepts. Beyond the organ is the choir which has richly detailed woodwork, and is nearly as big as the nave. A surprise: the big stone slab in the middle of the choir floor is the tomb of King Henry VIII, buried here rather than at Westminster Abbey. I had no idea Henry VIII was buried here. Among other royalty entombed in the Chapel: Kings George V and George VI and George VI’s wife Queen Mary (the current Queen Elizabeth’s parents), and Princess Margaret. Most monarchs since George III are buried here at St. George’s, as Queen Elizabeth will be when her time comes.

The whole effect of the St. George Chapel was “WOW, that was breathtaking!” It was far more beautiful than anything we saw the day before at Hampton Court.

From the chapel, we walked back past the Round Tower to the Upper Ward to visit the State Apartments, where world leaders and foreign dignitaries are still received today. This included the Grand Staircase, the Waterloo Chamber (filled with paintings of the heroes that defeated Napoleon at Waterloo), a king’s bedchamber, dining rooms, and one of the most impressive rooms: St. George’s Hall, where the 1992 Windsor fire was centered, and which has been rebuilt beautifully.

Photo 6506-2. The Grand Staircase   (Source: thamesriviera.com)

Photo 6506-3. The Waterloo Chamber (Source: tripsavvy.com)

Photo 6506-5. The Windsor Castle Fire of 1992. (Source: getreading.co.uk)

Photo 6506-5. St. George’s Hall right after the 1992 fire
(Source: Gettyimages.com)

Photo 6506-6. Windsor St. George’s Hall after post-fire restoration.
(Source: thamesriviera.com)

Where we exited the State Apartments complex was next to a large courtyard, the Quadrangle, across which we later learned is where Queen Elizabeth’s personal quarters are located. And as it happened, the queen was in residence the day we were there for the Windsor horse show, which was indicated by the Queen’s flag flying atop the Round Tower. An attendant explained to us: the Queen would not normally be here on Wednesday, a weekday – she considers Buckingham Palace to be “the office” where the she stays during the week, and Windsor is “home” where she goes for weekends. Anyway, she happened to be at Windsor on the Wednesday we were there for the horse show, being the avid equestrian that she is. I noticed that there was a matched set of 7 green Range Rover SUVs parked on the Quadrangle … the Queen’s entourage. It would have been interesting to see how the British manage traffic when the Queen’s entourage comes through … i.e. do they evacuate the route for miles like they do when the president comes to town? Alas, we missed this part.

Photo 6521.  The Windsor Quadrangle with the Queen’s Entourage Parked Inside

We had a pleasant walk back down through the town of Windsor on what turned into a most pleasant day of sunny shirtsleeve weather in the high 60’s. We caught the train back to London/Waterloo Station which took just about exactly one hour, just as it had coming to Windsor this morning. Coming back to London was not a drag at all. London has a welcoming and open feel to it, not hard and cold like some American big cities. It’s loaded with historically fascinating sights, there are not that many very tall buildings to take away from the human scale, and it’s always a pleasure to walk around, even at night.

Next stop: the Houses of Parliament