WINDSOR CASTLE. The chief residence of the British sovereigns, at Windsor (q.v.), on the Thames, 21 miles by rail west by south of Lon don. The buildings. which crown a plateau west of the town, cover 12 acres. of ground in the midst of the Little or Home Park. which is about four miles in circumference. A tree-lined avenue con nects with the Great Park, which has a circuit of IS miles, and west of this is Windsor Forest, occupying an area 56 miles in circumference. The castle may be grouped in three portions: The :Middle Ward, conspicuous by the dominating Round 'rower or keep, SO feet high, built on an eminence 42 feet high; the Lower Ward on the west, eontaining Saint G'orge's ('hats!, the Al bert Chapel, the houses of the military knights, cloisters, etc.; and the Upper Ward on the east, containing the royal private apartment'', The I bmnd TOWN', which was built Edward III. to receive the round table of the 'knights of the newly founded Order of the Garter, was used as a prison until 1660. i. of Scotland being one of its most notable inmates. Saint George's Chapel. begun in 1174 by Edward IV, and com pleted by Ilenry N'111., is a line specimen of flam boyant Gothic architeeture. In the vault below the chapel, henry WI., Edward 1V, and his Queen, Henry and Jane Seymour, Charles 1., George 1 I and his Quell'. George IV., the Princess Charlotte, the Duke of Kent, the Duke of York, William IV. and his Queen, and other
members of the royal family are buried. Adjoin ing saint George's Chapel is the .\lbert, Chapel, built by Henry VII., and lavishly restored by Queen Vietoria as a MC1111)11211 to the Prince Cot sort, Albert. The state apaltments in the Cpper Ward, inoluding the celebrated Saint Iieorgr s Ifall, 200 feet long by 34 feet wide, the Waterloo Chamber or Grand Dining Room, OS feet long by 47 feet wide, Throne Room, and the old Ball Room. now the Vandyck Room, contain valuable collections of paintings, statuary. and other priceless objects of art. Frogmore (q.v.), the mausoleum of Queen Victoria and her hus band, is in the park half a mile from the castle. \\Incisor was a residence of the Saxon kings before the Conquest, their palace being at old Windsor, two miles, distant. William the Con queror chose the present site and built a castle which was extended by Henry 1. and Ilemry 11., but under the orders of Edward III. was taken down and a new one rebuilt by William of Wyke ham, Bishop of Winchester. This castle was extended by successive monarchs, and under George IV. it was completely renovated at a cost of about $4.500.000. Consult: Dixon. Royal Wind sor ( London, 1879-80); Loftie, Windsor: The Castle, Park, Totot, and Neighborhood (ib., 1880).