Windsor castle has belonged continuously to the sovereigns of England since the days of the Norman Conquest over 900 years ago and its present occupant,Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is a direct descendant of its founder. It was not as a stone-walled castle but as a typical Norman stronghold of earth and timber that it first existed, one of many constructed by the forces of William the Conqueror to control the country after his invasion of 1066.
The castle formed one of a ring of garrisons built to command the area around London,each a day's march from its neighbours and from the centre. The site at Windsor was of strategic importance because 
it dominated the Thames,then the main freight route in to the interior.The fortifications erected upon it were made unusually long and narrow so as to take advantage of a lengthy escarpment.
The site was also on the edge of a vast tract of royal forest in which the Saxon kings had hunted for centuries,with a small hunting lodge four miles downstream,in an ancient settlement called Windleora.The Norman Invaders enjoyed the hunt no less and named the new fortress after it.
Over the years Windsor became increasingly important as a royal residence.Henry I is recorded as having held his court here in 1110.
It was more than 50 years later, during the reign of his grandson Henry II,before the occupants were able to enjoy the luxury of stone buildings,Henry II built
his domestic apartments in the Lower Ward and those for ceremonial purposes in the Upper Ward.These were destroyed by fire a little over a century later,and since then the Royal apartments have been confined to the Upper Ward of the castle.
Later in Henry's reign rebellion started by his two sons,Richard and John, forced the king to strengthen the castle's defences.The lower half of the Round Tower
probably dates from this time,as well as much of the Upper Ward,with its rectangular towers,and the walls around the Middle and Lower wards.
The castle suffered two seiges during this period.The most serios of these was the baron's rebellion against John in 1216 after he persuaded the Pope to annul the Magna Carta, the charter which ever since has affirmed the individual's right to justice the liberty.The castle came under heavy attack for three months and its walls were badly damaged.Early in Henry III's reign the damage to the castle was repaired,the perimeter wall completed and the circular towers added.On the domestic side no fewer than four major reconstructions followed.The first,by Henry III in the 1240s,took 20 years and was the last word in luxury for the age,but apart from a chapel,these buildings did not survive.
In 1348 King Edward III,inspired by the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table,founded the most Noble Order of the Garter,Britains highest order of chivalry.The new order,consisting of 26 knights companion,swore personal allegiance to the king and adopted St George as their patron saint.The knights worshipped in Henry III's existing chapel and spectacular new apartments were built for their use,including the banquet.The king also built extensive quarters fro the clergy.
It was Edward's royal successor,Edward IV,who began the construction of the present chapel of St George in 1475 as a setting worthly of the order,but it was not until 50 years later,in the reign of Henry VIII,that this master piece pf the late Perpendicular Gothic architecture was completed.St George's chapel replaced its predecessor as the chapel of the Order of the Garter and still provides a magnificent setting for the Garter service today
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The Middle Ward
Crowning the Middle ward is the Round Tower,built as the main stronghold of the castle by King Henry II in the 12th century,on a mound raised by William the Conqueror at the time of the castle's foundation in the 1070s when a strategic site was chosen overlooking the river Thames.
The Round Tower formed the central feature of the originall fortress with its surrounding dry moat,walls and towers.The tower is not strictly circular in form:its longest diameter measures 103 feet (31.3m) and its shortest 94 feet(28.6 m).The lower half, as far as the coping above the large windows,is thought to have been built about 1170, 100 years after the raising of the artificial mound on which it stands.
Before this the summit had been fortified with a wooden structure.The upper half was added for King George IV in 1828-32.The top of the tower stands 215 feet (65.5m) above the river Thames and 280 feet(85.3m) above sea level.The Union Jack is flown from the top of the Round Tower,and is replaced by the much larger Royal standard when The Queen visits the castle.
The ditch below the Round Tower is occupied by a delightful garden belonging to the Governor of the castle,whose residense stands besides it.The Moat Garden is where King James I saw and fell in love with lady Joan Beaufort.The king, a prisnor in the castle for 11 years (1413-24), saw the lady walking in the garden,fell in love with her and later married her.The king write a poem in which he tells of his love and describes the 'gardyn faire'.
Beside the Round Tower stand the twin towers of the Norman gate,built by King Edward III in the 14th century to replace an earlier gateway defending access to the Upper Ward, where the domestic quarters of the sovereign were, and still are,situated. The portcullis,which was let down between grooves from the room above,is still in place above the outer arch.
The Upper Ward
The Norman Gate leads into a small courtyard in the Upper Ward known as Engine Court.On the left is a gallery constructed by Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century,followed by a building erected a century earlier by her grandfather King Henry VII as quarters for his queen and family.All these buildings now house the Royal Library.
Engine Court looks on to the vast open courtyard known as the Quadrangle.The Changing of the Guard takes place on this magnificent expanse of lawn during the offical residence of The Queen.The Quadrangle also forms an impressive setting for colorful Royal Pageantry on the occasion of a State Visit,when there is a vast procession consisting the carriages accompanied by the Household Cavalry and a Guard of Honour with a regimental band.
On the left can be seen the State Apartments and the State Entrance and on the right are the Private Apartments of The Queen.The Soveriegn's Entrance is situated
in the opposite corner to Engine Court.
The Quadrangle as it appears today is largely the work of King George IV's architect Sir Jeffry Wyatville,who completed a large reconstruction of the Upper Ward in the 1820s.The intensin was to return to the medieval architectural style of Edward III but with the additional comforts of a great 19th century country house.
Wyatville added numerous windows and the romantic gothic towers and battlements.
The Round Tower was doubled in height at this time and in its turn adorned with battlements.The Long Walk to the south of the castle,begun by king Charles II,was completed and extended in to the Quadrangle through an imposing new gateway,King George IV Gate.In addition,the Grand Corridor was built to link all the rooms on the south and east fronts (The Royal Apartments).The handsome equestrian statue of Charles II,erected in the centre of the Quadrangle in 1680,was moved to its present position beneath the Round Tower.
The North Terrace can be reached either by walking down the steps beneath the Royal Library,or from Middle Ward through an openening in the outer wall of the castle.The North Terrace,built by King Charles II in the 17th century,commands a panoramic view of the Thames Valley,with Eton College and the Chiltern Hills beyond.
Originally there was no terrace on the north front of the castle,which rose directly above a sheer escarpment - a terrace would have weakend its defences.In 1533 King Henry VIII built a terrace made of wood,which was replaced by a stone structure for Queen Elizabeth I in 1574-78 and altered in the 1670s by Charles II to extend around the outside of the east and south sides of the Quadrangle.
When members of the Royal Family are not in residence the far end of the North Terrace leads to a point from which the East Front of the castle and the formal garden below it can be seen.The public has access to this view-point again now that work to the fire damaged parts of the castle has been completed.The superb Italian-style garden,complete with terraces, fountain and orangery,was created for King George IV on an exposed amd east-facing hilltop site.This was made possible by enclosing it within a raised stone wall whose top was level with, and provided am extension of ,the terraces.This gives it the appearence of a sunken garden,while protecting it from the keen winds.
The Lower Ward
To reach the Lower Ward the vsitor must return along the North Terrace to Middle Ward and the foot of the Round Tower.On the right,beyond the Deanery,stands the Albert Memorial Chapel. St George's Chapel is situated further down the hill on the right and is entered by the south proch.A passageway between the two chapels leads to the Dean's Cloister and beyond in to the Canon's Cloister,both dating from the 14th century.
On the other side of the Lower Ward from the Albert Memorial Chapel and St.George's Chapel stands the residnce of the Military Knights, a foundation instituted by King Edward III in connection with the Order of the Garter and providing lodgins for retired army officers who have served with distinction.Dressed in a scarel uniform conferred on them by King William IV in the 19th century,they attended Morning Service in St George's Chapel on Sundays, and play an imporatant part in the ceremonial of the chapel on royal occasions. 
The square tower in the centre of the range,Mary Tudor Tower,which was built as a belfry in the 14th century and bears arms of Mary Tudor and her husband King Philip of Spain,is the residence of their Governor.The next house downhill used to contain their dining hall, and bears a representation of the Garter over its front door.The houses below it were built in the reign of Mary Tudor (1553-8). The upper range was originally constructed 200 years earlier by King Edward III for memebers of the clergy.
In the far right hand corner of Lower Ward is a small gateway leading to the Horseshoe Cloister,a row of timeber-framed houses originally built by King Edward IV in approximately 1480 for the priest-vicars of St George's Chapel and now housing the men singers of the chapel choir and the vergers.The cloister owes its present
appearance to a restoration by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 19th century. Opposite lies the Great West Door of St George's Chapel.
Beyond the far corner of the cloister lies the Curfew Tower.Built in 1227 as part of the last section of the outer wall to be completed,the tower contains a fine example
of a medieval dungeon in the basement as well as one end of a secret underground passage or "sally port",extending out beneath the castle wall,of which the far end is blocked.
The upper storey contains the eight bells of St George's Chapel.These are chimed every three hours through a mechanism operated by a clock dating from the
17th century.The conical roof was added in 1863.
Another gateway at the far side of the cloister leads to an area which contains residences of clergy and others connected with St George's Chapel.All these buildings are closed to the public but from the terrace there is a fine view of the river Thames and of Eton
beyond it.
On the right,infront of the Guard Room,lies the parade Ground,where the Changing of the Guard takes place in winter.The impressive gateway to Windsor Castle,where the visitor's tour ends,is known as king Henry VIII gate,built in 1511 when the castle was already more than 400 years old.The vault of the arch is pierced by holes through which boiling oil could be poured on attackers during a seige.A drawbridge used to lead over a ditch encircling the castle.
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The Albert Memorial Chapel stands on the site of the earlier chapel built by King Henry III in 1240 and used by Edward III when he founded the Order of the Garter in the middle of the following century.
The exterior was originaly constructed by Henry VII in the late 15th century as a Lady Chapel for St George's chapel.He intended it as a shrine for the remains of the saintly King Henry VI and for his own tomb but it was not used for either of these purposes and the chapel fell into disuse for many years.
The richly decorated interior of the chapel was created for Queen Vistoria in 1863-73 as a memorial to her husband.Albert,the Prince Consort,who died in 1861 at the age of only 42.
The chapel is the work of Sir George Gilbert Scott and houses a marble effigy of prince Albert,whose tomb is in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore,Queen Victoria went in to mourning for her beloved young husband for 40 years and according to her wishes the Queen's remains joined Albert's on her death in 1901.The illustarted panels around the walls of the chapel depict scenes from the bible.
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St George's Chapel,one of the finest examples of the perpendicular style of late gothic architecture,was founded in 1475 by King Edward IV as the chapel of the Order of the Garter and completed 50 years later by King Henry VIII.The chapel is in regular use on great ceremonial occasions and the most important of theese is the service of the Order of the Garter. This historic pageant takes place in early June when The Queen and the 26 Knights Companion,
attired in the robes of the Order,walk in procession from the castle through the Norman gate and the Middle and Lower Wards, to enter the Great West Door of the Chapel for the annual service.
The Order,which was founded in 1348 by King Edward III,is Britain's highest order of chivalry and is said to have its origin in a charming story.Tradition has it that at a ball held to celebrate the capture of Calais in 1387 a lady's garter fell to the ground.The king picked it up and, seeing his courtiers smile, said,'Honi soit qui mal y pense'- 'Shame on him who thinks evil of it'. These words became the motto of the Order.
The procession is led by the heralds,wearing richly embroidered scarlet coatees,black breeches and stockings and buckled court shoes.A tabard embroidered with the royal arms is also worn and the heralds carry ceremonial swords. The Knights and heralds are joined in procession by the Military Knights of Windsor,who wear
scarlet tunics with gold epaulettes and plumed cocked hats.The sovereign is attended by The Queen's Bodyguard in gold and scarlet uniforms with
white collar ruffs and Tudor bonnets dating from 1552.They carry ceeremonial pikestaffs. The route is lined by soldiers of the Household cavalry and the guards Division.
The Knights include the Duke of Edingburgh,The Prince of Wales,The Princess Royal and Baroness Thatcher.Their robes consist of a blue velvet mantle (cloak) with white ribbons, a plumed velvet cap, a scarlet sash embroidered with the badge of the Order, an enamelled collar of goldknots,tudor roses and garters with a pendant of St George and the Dragon (patron saint of England and of the Order) and the badge itself - The garter Star on a blue riband. The blue garter which gave the Order its name is worn buckled below the left knee.This is embroidered with the motto of the Order.
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Windsor castle's idyllic setting within the 5,700 acre Great Park and its proximity to London (just 20 miles/32 km) makes it an ideal weekend residence for the Queen.Here the Sovereign can spend somet time off duty,away from the rigours of court life,with family and friends enjoying quiet country pursuits in an informal atmosphere away fro
m the public gaze.
The cas;te has been loved by the queen since childhood.As a young princess the Sovereign was evacuated here to safety with her sister Princess margaret when the bombs began to fallon London in 1940, and the Princesses livedat Windsor throughout the Second World War.
Nowadays the Rpya; Family come to Windsor to enjoy outdoor activities,such as riding,carriage-driving,polo and shooting in theGreat Park.Prince Charles oftem plays polo at Smith's Lawn during the season. Ascot Week in June is greatly enjoyed, as well as the Royal Windsor Horse Show and the traditional
Garter procession and service.All these events are highly popular with the public too,attractinghuge crowds. The Royal Family usually spend part of the Christmas holiday at Windsor,when a party is held for the castle staff. At Windsor The Queen can offer hospitality to her ministers as well as representatives of forign and Commonwealth countries. The castle is also a setting for great ceremonial occasions such as state visits or the gatherings of the Knights of the Garter.
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