The motte is 50 feet (15 m) high and is made from chalk originally excavated from the surrounding ditch. Middle Ward Īt the heart of Windsor Castle is the Middle Ward, a bailey formed around the motte or artificial hill in the centre of the ward. Although there has been some criticism, the castle's architecture and history lends it a "place amongst the greatest European palaces".
As a result, architect Sir William Whitfield has pointed to Windsor Castle's architecture as having "a certain fictive quality", the Picturesque and Gothic design generating "a sense that a theatrical performance is being put on here", despite late 20th century efforts to expose more of the older structures to increase the sense of authenticity. Since the 14th century, architecture at the castle has attempted to produce a contemporary reinterpretation of older fashions and traditions, repeatedly imitating outmoded or even antiquated styles. It is in essence a Georgian and Victorian design based on a medieval structure, with Gothic features reinvented in a modern style. The present-day castle was created during a sequence of phased building projects, culminating in the reconstruction work after a fire in 1992. Windsor Castle grounds cover 52,609 square metres (13.000 acres) and combines the features of a fortification, a palace, and a small town. It is a popular tourist attraction, a venue for hosting state visits, and the preferred weekend home of Queen Elizabeth II. Windsor Castle was used as a refuge by the royal family during the Luftwaffe bombing campaigns of the Second World War and survived a fire in 1992. Queen Victoria made a few minor changes to the castle, which became the centre for royal entertainment for much of her reign.
CRIMSON COURT APARTMENTS FULL
After a period of neglect during the 18th century, George III and George IV renovated and rebuilt Charles II's palace at colossal expense, producing the current design of the State Apartments, full of Rococo, Gothic and Baroque furnishings. At the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II rebuilt much of Windsor Castle with the help of the architect Hugh May, creating a set of extravagant Baroque interiors. Windsor Castle survived the tumultuous period of the English Civil War, when it was used as a military headquarters by Parliamentary forces and a prison for Charles I. Edward's core design lasted through the Tudor period, during which Henry VIII and Elizabeth I made increasing use of the castle as a royal court and centre for diplomatic entertainment. Henry III built a luxurious royal palace within the castle during the middle of the century, and Edward III went further, rebuilding the palace to make an even grander set of buildings in what would become "the most expensive secular building project of the entire Middle Ages in England". Gradually replaced with stone fortifications, the castle withstood a prolonged siege during the First Barons' War at the start of the 13th century. Originally designed to protect Norman dominance around the outskirts of London and oversee a strategically important part of the River Thames, Windsor Castle was built as a motte-and-bailey, with three wards surrounding a central mound. Inside the castle walls is the 15th-century St George's Chapel, considered by the historian John Martin Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic" design.
The castle's lavish early 19th-century State Apartments were described by early 20th century art historian Hugh Roberts as "a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste". Since the time of Henry I, it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens