Nice Pictures of Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle, at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. The castle's floor area is approximately 45,000 square metres (about 484,000 square feet). Built for William the Conqueror over 900 years ago to guard the western side of London, Windsor Castle is still a working royal palace. Windsor Castle is the largest inhabited castle in the world and one of the Queens favourite residences.



Originally, Windsor was a simple motte and fortification built for defense purposes by William the Conqueror in 1066. Since then it has been inhabited, restored, or redesigned by Henry II, Henry III, Edward III, the Parliamentarians (used as a prison, mid 17th Century), King Charles I (1649 buried under the Chapel of St George), Charles II (1660), George III (1789), George IV (1828), Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Elizabeth II today.

During medieval times, Windsor castle came under siege several times, once was in 1194 when Price John attempted to take control of the throne when his brother Richard I (known as Richard the Lion Heart) was away during the crusades. Later when John was crowned King the castle came under hostilities from the nobles which lead to the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215.



Henry VIII built the great entry gate which bears his name and the last major building work took place when the tower was raised by George VI to make it the tallest in England. The grounds at Windsor Castle contain one of the best examples of medieval churches in England - St. George's Chapel. The chapel took 50 years to construct and was started in 1475 by Edward IV and is the official home of the Order of the Garter. The Order was founded by Edward III in 1348 and the Garter Knights are selected by the Queen.




The castle did suffer a major fire in 1992. The fire evidently began in the northeast section of the Upper Ward as a spotlight ignited a curtain. The fire spread at roof level to surrounding areas of the castle despite frantic efforts of castle staff and the fire brigade to control the flames. The fire consumed the ceilings of George IV's St. George's Hall and Grand Reception Room and gutted the Private Chapel, the State Dining Room, the Crimson Drawing Room and other smaller rooms. Fortunately, the rooms most affected by the fire were mostly empty of their treasures as they were being rewired. A few priceless artifacts were destroyed, consequently, because they were too large to move and had been left in place. The restoration of Windsor Castle began immediately following the devastating fire. The goal was to create modern Gothic, oiginal in detail and tradition. It was completed 5 years later at a total cost of 37,000,000 English Pounds.




Windsor has stood for nearly a millennium. Windsor remained much the same throughout the 20th century as it had from the time of George IV. It is the only royal castle that has been in continuous occupation since the Middle Ages and is the largest inhabited castle in the world. Almost every century from the 12th to the 19th left its mark on this great fortress. Windsor was on of the first sites chosen by William the Conqueror for the series of fortifications built to protect his new conquest after 1066. It was one of a ring of nine castles built by him around London. William picked a superb site, a chalk outcrop rising to 30 meters (100feet) above the Thames River and commanding splendid views over the countryside for miles around.