Windsor is a historic town in theRoyal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead inBerkshire, England. It is the site ofWindsor Castle, one of the official residences of theBritish monarch. The town is situated 21.8 miles (35.1 km) west ofCharing Cross,central London, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) southeast ofMaidenhead, and 15.8 miles (25.4 km) east of the moderncounty town ofReading. It is immediately south of theRiver Thames, which forms its boundary with its smaller, ancient twin town ofEton. The village ofOld Windsor, just over 2 miles (3 km) to the south, predates what is now called Windsor by, possibly, 300 years. Until 1974, Windsor was correctly referred to asNew Windsor to distinguish the two.
Windlesora is first mentioned in theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle. (The settlement had an earlier name but this is unknown.) The name has no exact etymology, but the closest estimation is that derives fromold EnglishWindles-ore orwinch by the riverside.[2][3][4] This etymology is shared withWinsor in Hampshire and also Broadwindsor (Dorset), but topographically all three are different. By 1110, Henry of Huntingdon's chronicle, Historia Anglorum, notes that meetings of theGreat Council, which had previously taken place at Windlesora, were taking place at thecastle, referred to as New Windsor.[dubious –discuss] By the late 12th century the settlement at Windelsora had been renamedOld Windsor.
Windsor Castle, viewed from the Long WalkAerial view of Windsor around its castle and Eton in the distance, with Home Park in the bottom rightWindsor Seal
The early history of the site is unknown, although Old English field names in its vicinity that survived to be documented in the medieval period, confirm that a substantial community existed on this site for a considerable time before 1066. By 1070, recognising the strategic importance of the siteWilliam the Conqueror had a timbermotte-and-bailey castle constructed.[4] The focus of royal interest at that time[when?] was not the castle, however, but a small riverside settlement about 3 miles (4.8 km) downstream, possibly established in the late 7th century. From about the 8th century, high status people began visiting the site, although by the ninth, according to the archaeological record, it had been abandoned. From the mid-11th century the site came back into use, and it is occasionally mentioned in the sources, linked with KingEdward the Confessor and his love of sports hunting. After the Conquest, royal use of the site increased, probably because it demonstrated royal continuity, and also access to woodlands for hunting, as the use of a short bow on horseback was a valuable military skill.
The settlement atOld Windsor largely transferred to New Windsor during the 12th century, which required the substantial planning and setting out of the new town, including its parish church, marketplace, and burgage plots. A second development phase took place afterthe Anarchy, the civil war ofKing Stephen's reign, when its hospital, c. 1160 (later dedicated to St Peter), hermitage c. 1160 (dedicated to St Leonard) and Thames Bridge c. 1173, came into existence. At about the same time, the castle was rebuilt in stone.Windsor Bridge is the earliest bridge on theThames betweenStaines andReading, built (and owned by the Crown) at a time when bridge building was rare; it was first documented in 1191 but had probably been built, according to thePipe rolls, in 1173. It played an important part in the national road system, before the construction of the Great West Road in c. 1230, linking London with Reading andWinchester. By directing traffic into the new town, it underpinned the success of New Windsor's fledgling economy.
The town of New Windsor, as an ancientdemesne ofthe Crown, was a privileged settlement from the start, apparently having the rights of afree borough, for which other towns had to pay substantial fees to the king. It had amerchant guild, a part of civic government, in 1260, this body sometimes incorrectly confused with the 14th century religious Fraternity of theHoly Trinity, based in the parish church. After receiving its first charter confirming its royal borough status in 1277, Windsor was briefly named as the chief town of the county. Somewhat unusually, however, this charter gave no new rights or privileges, seeming simply to codify rights enjoyed over many years before.
Windsor's position as chief town of Berkshire was short-lived, however, as people found it difficult to reach.Wallingford took over this position in the early 14th century. As a self-governing town Windsor enjoyed a number of freedoms unavailable to other towns, including the right to convene a court of record, the right to inherit land (burgage plots), and the right to elect its corporation. The town accounts of the 16th century survive in part, although most of the once substantial borough archive, dating back to the late 12th century, was destroyed, probably in the late 17th century.
New Windsor was a nationally significant town in theMiddle Ages, certainly one of the fifty wealthiest towns in the country by 1332. Its prosperity came from its close association with the royal household. The repeated investment in the castle brought London merchants (goldsmiths,vintners,spicers andmercers) to the town in the late 13th century and provided much employment for townsmen. The development of the castle underEdward III, between 1350 and 1368, was the largest secular building project in England of the Middle Ages, and many Windsor people worked on this project, again bringing great wealth to the town. Although theBlack Death in 1348 had reduced some towns' populations by up to 50%, in Windsor the building projects of Edward III brought money to the town, and possibly its population doubled: this was a 'boom' time for the local economy. People came to the town from every part of the country, and from continental Europe. The poetGeoffrey Chaucer held the honorific post ofClerk of the Works at Windsor Castle in 1391, although there is no record that he ever visited the town.
The development of the castle continued in the late 15th century with the rebuilding ofSt George's Chapel as a royal mausoleum, as Westminster abbey was considered full and unable to accommodate further royal burials. With this Windsor became a major pilgrimage destination, particularly for Londoners.Pilgrims came to touch the royal shrine of the murderedHenry VI, the fragment of theTrue Cross and other important relics. Visits to the chapel were probably combined with a visit to the important nearbyMarian shrine and college atEton, founded by Henry VI in 1440, and dedicated to theAssumption; which is now better known asEton College. Pilgrims came with substantial sums to spend, this providing a substantial boost to the town's economy. From perhaps two or three named inns in the late 15th century, some 30 can be identified a century later. The town again grew in wealth. For London pilgrims, Windsor was probably – but briefly – of greater importance thanCanterbury and the shrine of that city's patron saintThomas Becket.
With the closures of theReformation, however, Windsor's pilgrims traffic gradually died out, and the town began to stagnate. The castle was considered by royalty to be militaristic and old-fashioned, compared with 'modern' Hampton Court. Theearly modern period formed a stark contrast to the medieval history of the town.Henry VIII was buried inSt George's Chapel in 1547, next toJane Seymour, the mother of his only legitimate son, Edward (Edward VI). Henry, the founder of theChurch of England, may have wanted to benefit from the stream of pilgrims coming to the town. His will gives that impression.
Most accounts of Windsor in the 16th and 17th centuries talk of its poverty, badly made streets and poor housing.Shakespeare's playThe Merry Wives of Windsor is set in Windsor and contains many references to parts of the town and the surrounding countryside. Since there is no record that Shakespeare ever visited Windsor, and because some of the references in his play are topographically inaccurate, he must have taken his local place-names from a third-party source, perhaps a crude map of the town. The play references the Garter inn, a place that actually existed, but that was destroyed in the Great Fire of Windsor in 1681. The long-standing – and famous – courtesan of kingCharles II,Nell Gwyn, was given a house on St Albans Street: Burford House (now part of the Royal Mews). Her residence in this house, as far as it is possible to tell, was brief however. Only one of her letters addressed from Burford House survives. The house was probably intended as a legacy for her illegitimate son, the Earl of Burford, later theDuke of St Albans.
Windsor wasgarrisoned by Colonel Venn during theEnglish Civil War. Later it became the home of theNew Model Army when Venn had left the castle in 1645. Despite its royal dependence, like many commercial centres, Windsor was aParliamentarian town.Charles I was buried without ceremony inSt George's Chapel after his execution atWhitehall in 1649. The present town hall, colloquially but inaccurately calledGuildhall, was built in 1680–91. It replaced the function of a timber -framed market house built on the same site in 1597-9, together with that of Windsor's first, and much larger, guildhall, which faced the castle and had been built around 1350. At this time, the town was extremely poor, and could only just raise the sums required for the new building, part of a much larger scheme, subsequently abandoned, to modernise the medieval town centre, matching the revamping of the castle under Charles II, to a design by Hugh May.
But his successors did not use the place, preferring up-to-date Hampton Court, Windsor castle again falling into disrepair together with its client town. Its population dipped, probably below 1,500 inhabitants, and although some of its building were given new, fashionable front elevations, its housing stock was much decayed and insanitary. The town continued in poverty until the mid 19th century. In 1652 the largest house inWindsor Great Park was built on land whichOliver Cromwell had appropriated fromthe Crown. Now known asCumberland Lodge after theDuke of Cumberland's residence there in the mid-18th century, the house was variously known as Byfield House, New Lodge, Ranger's Lodge, Windsor Lodge and Great Lodge.[5]
In 1778, there was a resumption of the royal visits to Windsor, although not to the castle as this was in a state of decay. Rather,George III extended a summer house first built by Queen Anne, that faced the upper ward walls, and known as the Garden House. The extended building was renamed Upper lodge, but owing to George II's ill health, part of the royal apartments in the castle were refurbished in 1804 for his use. This started a period of new development in Windsor, with the building of two army barracks. However the associated large numbers of soldiers led to a major prostitution problem by 1830, in a town where the number of streets had little changed since 1400. In the 18th century the town traded with London selling theWindsor Chair which was actually made inBuckinghamshire.
A number of fine houses were built in this period, including Hadleigh House on Sheet Street, which was built in 1793 by the then mayor of Windsor, William Thomas. In 1811 it was the home of John O'Reilly, the apothecary-surgeon toGeorge III. Windsor Castle was the westernmost sighting-point for theAnglo-French Survey (1784–1790), which measured the precise distance between theRoyal Greenwich Observatory and theParis Observatory bytrigonometry. Windsor was used because of its relative proximity to the base-line of the survey atHounslow Heath.
The substantial redevelopment of the castle in the subsequent decade andQueen Victoria's residence from 1840, as well as the coming of two railways in 1849, signalled the most dramatic changes in the town's history. These events catapulted the town from a sleepy medieval has-been to the centre ofempire – many European crowned heads of state came to Windsor to visit the Queen throughout the rest of the 19th century. Unfortunately, excessive redevelopment and 'refurbishment' of Windsor's medieval fabric at this time resulted in widespread destruction of the old town, including the demolition of the oldparish church of St John the Baptist in 1820. The original had been built in stages from about 1135, with significant enhancement work in the 14th century, including the construction of a spire and the addition of two chapels in the 15th. One built by the fraternity of the Holy Trinity, and a second by the town corporation, and dedicated to the Virgin.
Most of the current town's streets date from the mid to late 19th century.[6] However the main street, Peascod Street (/ˈpɛskɒd/) is probably very ancient, and certainly existed in the period ofAnglo-Saxon rule. It was used to set out the parish boundary of Windsor manor in the tenth century, and had acquired its name, as part of the new town, by 1190. This name, the earliest documented street in Windsor, is, however, curious. Originally, Peascroft-strat, apparently a croft (or toft) of land belonging to an individual called Pea, modified in the 13th century to Peascod, seemingly referring to a popular medieval snack, a pea pod fried in butter. Possibly this snack was a speciality of the area. Alternatively, and as with all early Windsor street names, Peas-croft may make reference to the land it crossed, which would support its link to a family known for growing Peas, or to a plot used for this purpose.
St John the Baptist's parish churchAll Saints' parish church
The originalparish church of Windsor is dedicated to St John the Baptist and is situated adjacent to the High Street. The church is said to have dated from the time that KingHenry I moved theRoyal Court fromOld Windsor to 'New Windsor'. The church was clearly established by the time ofHenry II in about 1270, as there are references to it by then.[7] Henry II grated its advowson to the priory of Waltham Holy Cross in atonement for the death of Thomas Becket in 1170, and it remained in the priory's possession until 1528, when its responsibility transferred to Windsor Corporation, explaining the date of its earliest Wardens' Accounts, these still being extant. In 1543,Henry Filmer,Robert Testwood andAnthony Pearson, the threeWindsor Martyrs, were burnt at the stake as part of a conspiracy known as the Prebendaries Plot, to unseat the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. The plot failed, but not before the three Windsor men were put to death, in a field adjoining the river Thames, not far from the present-day site of the railway station on Datchet Road, owned by the local ring-leader of the conspiracy, William Symonds. The original church building hadSaxon arches andNorman work. Pre-Reformation it counted at least eleven saintly altars, many with two keepers, two principal chapels and a rood loft. In the 15h century, lodgings were built against its north elevation for the Trinity fraternity's morrow mass priest. By the 18th century it was described as 'a vast building with 10 side altars and several chantries(sic.)' and perhaps eightgabled roofs. A lightening strike in the 16th century destroyed its spire, and owing to a shortage of funds, this was replaced with a truncated lantern-type arrangement.
In 1818 the high cost of repairs to the old building led to plans for a complete rebuild at a cost of £14,000. Charles Hollis was appointed architect and the new building was erected between 1820 and 1822 with cast iron columns that were floated down the Thames. The ribs that support the roof are also cast iron. The new church,Gothic in style with a pinnacle tower containing the bells, was officially consecrated by theBishop of Salisbury on 22 June 1822.[7]Samuel Sanders Teulon added thechancel and theapse in 1880. Thechancel screen was added in 1898 to mark the 60-year reign ofQueen Victoria. In 1906 theHunter organ was installed. The north side gallery was reduced in length to make way for the organ.[7]
The more recent church of All Saints' is situated on Frances Road. The incumbent vicar is the Revd Canon Sally Lodge.[8] The authorThomas Hardy trained as an architect and joinedArthur Blomfield's practice as assistant architect in April 1862. Between 1862 and 1864 he worked with Blomfield on All Saints'.[9] Areredos, possibly designed by Hardy, was discovered behind panelling at All Saints' in August 2016.[10][11]
As a result of the castle, Windsor is a popular tourist destination and has facilities usually found in larger towns: two railway stations, a theatre and several substantial hotels. Various boat trips operate on the River Thames, with connections toMaidenhead andStaines-upon-Thames. In winter, Alexandra Gardens hosts a temporary ice rink.[12] Near the town isLegoland Windsor Resort, the only Legoland park in the United Kingdom and the largest Legoland park in the world in terms of area. Legoland Windsor was built on the site of the formerWindsor Safari Park.
Central Station refashioned as a shopping precinct
As a tourist town there are many gift shops around the castle, and there are shops and restaurants in Windsor Royal Station[13] insideWindsor & Eton Central railway station. The main shopping street is Peascod Street.[14]
Windsor Cricket Club's clubhouse and pitches are at Home Park (public) adjacent toWindsor Castle. The club played host to a 2006Lord's Taverners cricket match. The Windsor 1st team currently play in Division 2A of the Thames Valley League.
WindsorRugby Club also use the Home Park (public) ground and the team currently plays in theSouthern Counties North division.
Several other local sports clubs are based at Home Park (public), includinghockey andarchery clubs, and the Datchet Dashers running club.
Royal Windsor Rollergirls were one of the first roller derby leagues to be founded in the UK in 2007. They disbanded in 2023.
State-funded schooling in the town is provided by a system ofthree-tier schooling. Schools are controlled by either the local authority oracademy trusts. The town is served by eleven first schools for children up to 9 years old, and three middle schools until age 13.
In 2012 the council reintroduced the role oftown crier to the borough. The previous town crier had retired in 1892 and for 120 years the post remained vacant. The current crier is Chris Brown.[23]
In 2018 the belongings ofhomeless people were controversially removed and stored for reasons of security.[24] A bus intended to shelter the Windsor homeless was impounded by police.[25]
Windsor was anancient borough, officially called 'New Windsor' to distinguish it from the neighbouring village and parish of Old Windsor. New Windsor's earliest knowncharter was issued in 1277, but the evidence suggests the town was administered as a borough prior to that.[26] The borough covered the parish of New Windsor and part of the parish ofClewer.[27] It was reformed to become amunicipal borough in 1836 under theMunicipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country.[28]
TheLocal Government Act 1894 directed that parishes were no longer allowed to straddle borough boundaries, and so the parish of Clewer was split into parishes called Clewer Within, being within the borough boundaries, and Clewer Without, covering the area outside the borough.[29] Clewer Without was subsequently absorbed into the borough of New Windsor in 1920,[30] after which the borough contained the three parishes of New Windsor, Clewer Within and Clewer Without.[31] The borough council met atWindsor Guildhall.[32]
The borough was styled aroyal borough from medieval times.[26] Following a proliferation of other boroughs with royal connections styling themselves as royal boroughs in the early 20th century, the government announced in 1926 that only Windsor andKensington had official sanction to use the title.[33]
The municipal borough of New Windsor was abolished in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972, becoming part of the borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, which was allowed to use the style of royal borough.[34][35][36] The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead became a unitary authority in 1998 when it took over the functions of the abolishedBerkshire County Council.[37]
SirSydney Camm, designer of theWorld War II fighter aircraft theHawker Hurricane, lived at 10 Alma Road; a memorial in the form of a replica Hawker Hurricane is displayed near Alexandra Gardens, on the Thames Promenade[40]
Norman Lovett, stand-up comedian and actor best known, as an actor, for playing Holly, the ship's computer, in the TV seriesRed Dwarf; born in Windsor[citation needed]
Jimmy Page, musician, lived at the Old Mill House at the end of Mill Lane, Windsor 1980-2004[44]
Billy Smart Jr., circus co-owner; lived in St. Leonard's mansion in the heart ofWindsor Safari Park, where he entertained celebrated persons fromPrincess Margaret tothe Beatles; he sold his St. Leonard's Hill guest house to comedianFreddie Starr; and later lived in Ascot Place, which is now apartments and has a plaque and statue dedicated to him[citation needed]
^abDitchfield, P. H.; Page, William, eds. (1923). "The royal borough of Windsor".A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 3. London: Victoria County History. pp. 56–66. Retrieved3 November 2024.
