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Windsor, Castle
The Royal Castle of Windsor is the location that Charles II has chosen to celebrate the Royal Wedding.
Location Description
Autumn was a glorious time to be at Windsor. In the early mornings, the calls of the male deer challenging their rivals echoed over the grass fields, as the mists rolled in from the Thames, their tendrils touching everything and leaving it wet until the sun rose and chased it all away. On a cloudless day, the view from the Castle stretched for miles, an explosion of bright leaves in reds and yellows.
Built by William the Conqueror as one of his earliest castles to defend his newly gained country, Windsor Castle had been rebuilt and expanded time and time again since the Middle Ages. Rising high above the Thames, its white cliffs provide an easily defensible position and help make it one of the safest royal residences in the kingdom. Used as a prison for King Charles I during the English Civil War, the interior has seen remarkable renovations since the Restoration, though a sense of great history and permanence pervades.
The Castle is comprised of three Wards surrounded by a series of courtyards enclosed by strong walls with turrets and towers. The high point of the Castle is the Middle Ward, which consists of the Round Tower, or keep, atop a man-made hill. To the east is the Upper Ward, where the Royal Apartments and public areas are located. To the west is the Lower Ward, which is the site of St. George’s Chapel and the buildings associated with the Order of the Garter.
Though the Castle boasts several Gates, it is the Henry VII Castle Gate in the Lower Ward that sees the most traffic. The wood of the drawbridge was slippery in the morning but the guards were used to far worse, and travelled its length, seemingly without effort, time and time again as they marched up and down, greeting each other and returning to their place. With the proliferation of cannons and siege engines, the medieval moat that stood beyond the Gate had become obsolete and was now a grassy field, dotted with puddles and bushes with yellowing leaves and damp bark. Plastered against the moat stood the elegant shops and houses of Windsor Town, many now adorned with wreaths of flowers in celebration of the Royal Wedding, which would bring some much-needed capital to the community.
Surrounding the Castle was an expansive landscape of park lands, including the Great Park to the south and the Home Park to the north and east, which provided for a multitude of activities to occupy the season’s golden afternoons.
List of Locations within the Castle
- Northern Terrace
- Eastern Terrace
- Southern Terrace
- Henry VII Castle Gate
- Lower Ward
- Middle Ward
- Upper Ward
- Little Park
- Great Park
