On Saturday the 23rd March 2024 Mel and I drove just over an hour to spend the weekend in Windsor in Berkshire.
We drove to our B&B at Top Twenty Bed and Breakfast above a Café. We parked up booked in at 9am had some breakfast and walked the 25 minute walk into town.
We popped into a few shops on the way.
Windlesora is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. (The settlement had an earlier name but this is unknown.) The name originates from old English Windles-ore or winch by the riverside. By 1110, meetings of the Great Council, which had previously taken place at Windlesora, were noted as taking place at the castle, referred to as New Windsor.By the late 12th century the settlement at Windelsora had been renamed Old Windsor.
We look about the shops here waiting for 1100 hours to see the Changing of the guard at Windsor Castle.
Windsor
Castle Guard
1st Battalion Welsh Guards
Musical
Support:
Pipes of No. 12 Company Irish Guards
A reporter from Dubai News wanted to do an interview with me, I assume about The Princess of Wales news about her having cancer. I declined their request. We look about the shops and side streets some more, waiting for the guards to leave Windsor Castle.
The early history of the site is unknown, although it was almost certainly settled some years before 1070 when William the Conqueror had a timber motte-and-bailey castle constructed. The focus of royal interest at that time was not the castle, however, but a small riverside settlement about 3 miles (4.8 km) downstream, possibly established from the 7th century. From about the 8th century, high status people as well as the royalty began visiting the site. From the 11th century the site's link with King Edward the Confessor is documented. In the later medieval period, royal use of the site increased, probably because it offered good access to woodlands and opportunities for hunting – a sport which also developed military skills.
After the Changing of the guards had finished we walked around the back streets and shops some more.
We made our way down to the River Thames to the river cruises and the huge amount of swans here.
We walk back into town and walk into the Windsor Royal Station was one of two terminal stations serving the town of Windsor, Berkshire, England. Although a small part is still a railway station, most of the station building has been converted into a tourist-oriented shopping centre, called Windsor Royal Shopping It is situated on Thames Street, almost immediately opposite Castle Hill, the main public entrance to Windsor Castle.
We decide we have time for a cream tea at café de Royals before our 1300 hours time slot for the castle tour. Not the best Cream Tea I’ve ever had but was okay.
We walk over to the Windsor Castle entrance and as I had purchased the tickets online the day before, not only did I save £3 per ticket but we bypass the queue for tickets and walk straight in once pass the airport type security.
I have been to Windsor twice before, but a first for Mel. But I had never been into the castle so I was looking forward to this.
Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. Founded by William the Conqueror in the 11th century, it has been the home of 40 monarchs and is one of the official residences of His Majesty The King.
Windsor Castle is open to visitors throughout the year, five days a week, from Thursday to Monday. We recommend allowing 2.5 to 3 hours to see everything.
The original castle was built in the 11th century, after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I (who reigned 1100–1135), it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle's lavish early 19th-century state apartments were described by the 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". 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.
Originally designed to project 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. Gradually replaced with stone fortifications, the castle withstood a prolonged siege during the First Barons' War at the start of the 13th century. 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 "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.
The skies darkened and we were pelted with hailstones for a few minutes before it stopped as quick as it started.
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. 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. 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. Queen Victoria made a few minor changes to the castle, which became the centre for royal entertainment for much of her reign. During the First World War, the historic estate inspired the naming of the royal House of Windsor. In the reign of George VI, it was used as a refuge by the royal family during the Luftwaffe bombing campaigns of the Second World War. An extensive restoration of several state rooms took place after the castle survived a fire in 1992. It is a popular tourist attraction, a venue for hosting state visits, and was the main residence of Elizabeth II from 2011 to 2022.
We walk around to enter the State Rooms. Sadly Photography is not allowed inside the Castle.
The State Apartments form the major part of the Upper Ward and lie along the north side of the quadrangle. The modern building follows the medieval foundations laid down by Edward III, with the ground floor comprising service chambers and cellars, and the much grander first floor forming the main part of the palace. On the first floor, the layout of the western end of the State Apartments is primarily the work of architect Hugh May, whereas the structure on the eastern side represents Jeffry Wyatville's plans.
The interior of the State Apartments was mostly designed by Wyatville in the early 19th century. Wyatville intended each room to illustrate a particular architectural style and to display the matching furnishings and fine arts of the period. With some alterations over the years, this concept continues to dominate the apartments. Different rooms follow the Classical, Gothic and Rococo styles, together with an element of Jacobethan in place. ]Many of the rooms on the eastern end of the castle had to be restored following the 1992 fire, using "equivalent restoration" methods – the rooms were restored so as to appear similar to their original appearance, but using modern materials and concealing modern structural improvements. These rooms were also partially redesigned at the same time to more closely match modern tastes. Art historian Hugh Roberts has praised the State Apartments as "a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste."Others, such as architect Robin Nicolson and critic Hugh Pearman, have described them as "bland" and "distinctly dull.
The Crimson Drawing Room in 2007, following the 1992 fire and subsequent remodelling
Wyatville's most famous work are those rooms designed in a Rococo style. These rooms take the fluid, playful aspects of this mid-18th century artistic movement, including many original pieces of Louis XV style, but project them on a "vastly inflated" scale. Investigations after the 1992 fire have shown though that many Rococo features of the modern castle, originally thought to have been 18th century fittings transferred from Carlton House or France, are in fact 19th century imitations in plasterwork and wood, designed to blend with original elements. The Grand Reception Room is the most prominent of these Rococo designs, 100 feet (30 m) long and 40 feet (12 m) tall and occupying the site of Edward III's great hallthis room, restored after the fire, includes a huge French Rococo ceiling, characterised by Ian Constantinides, the lead restorer, as possessing a "coarseness of form and crudeness of hand ... completely overshadowed by the sheer spectacular effect when you are at a distance".The room is set off by a set of restored Gobelins French tapestries. Although decorated with less gold leaf than in the 1820s, the result remains "one of the greatest set-pieces of Regency decoration". The White, Green and Crimson Drawing Rooms include a total of 62 trophies: carved, gilded wooden panels illustrating weapons and the spoils of war, many with Masonic meanings. Restored or replaced after the fire, these trophies are famous for their "vitality, precision and three-dimensional quality", and were originally brought from Carlton House in 1826, some being originally imported from France and others carved by Edward Wyatt. The soft furnishings of these rooms, although luxurious, are more modest than the 1820s originals, both on the grounds of modern taste and cost.Wyatville's design retains three rooms originally built by May in the 17th century in partnership with the painter Antonio Verrio and carver Grinling Gibbons. The Queen's Presence Chamber, the Queen's Audience Chamber and the King's Dining Room are designed in a Baroque, Franco-Italian style, characterised by "gilded interiors enriched with florid murals", first introduced to England between 1648 and 1650 at Wilton House.Verrio's paintings are "drenched in medievalist allusion" and classical images. These rooms were intended to show an innovative English "baroque fusion" of the hitherto separate arts of architecture, painting and carving.
A presentation drawing for the new Private Chapel, showing a Gothic design by Giles Downes
A handful of rooms in the modern State Apartments reflect either 18th century or Victorian Gothic design. The State Dining Room, for example, whose current design originates from the 1850s but which was badly damaged during the 1992 fire, is restored to its appearance in the 1920s, before the removal of some of the gilded features on the pilasters.Anthony Salvin's Grand Staircase is also of mid-Victorian design in the Gothic style, rising to a double-height hall lit by an older 18th century Gothic vaulted lantern tower called the Grand Vestibule, designed by James Wyatt and executed by Francis Bernasconi. The staircase has been criticised by historian John Robinson as being a distinctly inferior design to the earlier staircases built on the same site by both Wyatt and May.
Some parts of the State Apartments were completely destroyed in the 1992 fire and this area was rebuilt in a style called "Downesian Gothic", named after the architect, Giles Downes.The style comprises "the rather stripped, cool and systematic coherence of modernism sewn into a reinterpretation of the Gothic tradition". Downes argues that the style avoids "florid decoration", emphasising an organic, flowing Gothic structure. Three new rooms were built or remodelled by Downes at Windsor. Downes' new hammer-beam roof of St George's Hall is the largest green-oak structure built since the Middle Ages, and is decorated with brightly coloured shields celebrating the heraldic element of the Order of the Garter; the design attempts to create an illusion of additional height through the gothic woodwork along the ceiling. The Lantern Lobby used to welcome guests features flowing oak columns forming a vaulted ceiling, imitating an arum lily and is where the pre-fire chapel built for Queen Victoria was located. The new Private Chapel is relatively intimate, only able to fit thirty worshippers, but combines architectural elements of the St George's Hall roof with the Lantern Lobby and the stepped arch structure of the Henry VIII chapel vaulting at Hampton Court.The result is an "extraordinary, continuous and closely moulded net of tracery", complementing the new stained glass windows commemorating the fire, designed by Joseph Nuttgen,as based on an idea of Prince Philip's. The Great Kitchen, with its newly exposed 14th-century roof lantern sitting alongside Wyatville's fireplaces, chimneys and Gothic tables, is also a product of the reconstruction after the fire.
The ground floor of the State Apartments retains various famous medieval features. The 14th-century Great Undercroft still survives, some 193 feet (59 m) long by 31 feet (9.4 m) wide, divided into 13 bays. At the time of the 1992 fire, the Undercroft had been divided into smaller rooms; the area is now opened up to form a single space in an effort to echo the undercrofts at Fountains and Rievaulx Abbeys, although the floor remains artificially raised for convenience of use.The "beautifully vaulted" 14th-century Larderie passage runs alongside the Kitchen Courtyard and is decorated with carved royal roses, marking its construction by Edward III.
Inside we got to see a locket that holds the bullet that killed Napoleon!
The Lower Ward lies below and to the west of the Round Tower, reached through the Norman Gate. Originally largely of medieval design, most of the Lower Ward was renovated or reconstructed during the mid-Victorian period by Anthony Salvin and Edward Blore, to form a "consistently Gothic composition".The Lower Ward holds St George's Chapel and most of the buildings associated with the Order of the Garter.
On the north side of the Lower Ward is St George's Chapel. This huge building is the spiritual home of the Order of the Knights of the Garter and dates from the late 15th and early 16th century, designed in the Perpendicular Gothic style. The ornate wooden choir stalls are of 15th century design, having been restored and extended by Henry Emlyn at the end of the 18th century, and are decorated with a unique set of brass plates showing the arms of the Knights of the Garter over the last six centuries. On the west side, the chapel has a grand Victorian door and staircase, used on ceremonial occasions.The east stained glass window is Victorian, and the oriel window to the north side of it was built by Henry VIII for Catherine of Aragon. The vault in front of the altar houses the remains of Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and Charles I, with Edward IV buried nearby. The chapel is considered by historian John Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic" design.
The Horseshoe Cloister, built in 1480 and reconstructed in the 19th century
At the east end of St George's Chapel is the Lady Chapel, originally built by Henry III in the 13th century and converted into the Albert Memorial Chapel between 1863 and 1873 by George Gilbert Scott.Built to commemorate the life of Prince Albert, the ornate chapel features lavish decoration and works in marble, glass mosaic and bronze by Henri de Triqueti, Susan Durant, Alfred Gilbert and Antonio Salviati. The east door of the chapel, covered in ornamental ironwork, is the original door from 1246.
At the west end of the Lower Ward is the Horseshoe Cloister, originally built in 1480, near to the chapel to house its clergy. It houses the vicars-choral, or lay clerks of the chapel. This curved brick and timber building is said to have been designed to resemble the shape of a fetlock, one of the badges used by Edward IV. George Gilbert Scott heavily restored the building in 1871 and little of the original structure remains. Other ranges originally built by Edward III sit alongside the Horseshoe, featuring stone perpendicular tracery. As of 2011, they are used as offices, a library and as the houses for the Dean and Canons.
Behind the Horseshoe Cloister is the Curfew Tower, one of the oldest surviving parts of the Lower Ward and dating from the 13th century. The interior of the tower contains a former dungeon, and the remnants of a sally port, a secret exit for the occupants in a time of siege. The upper storey contains the castle bells placed there in 1478, and the castle clock of 1689. The French-style conical roof is a 19th-century attempt by Anthony Salvin to remodel the tower in the fashion of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's recreation of Carcassonne.
We walk inside St Georges Chapel and look at the amazing architecture and walk by the final resting place of our late Queen Elizabeth II as well as Prince Phillip. In fact there are many royals buried here including King Henry VIII.
St George's Chapel was founded in the 14th century by King Edward III and extensively enlarged in the late 15th century. It is located in the Lower Ward of the castle.
The castle has belonged to the monarchy for almost 1,000 years. So, the chapel has been the scene of many royal services, weddings and burials – in the 19th century, St George's Chapel and the nearby Frogmore Gardens superseded Westminster Abbey as the chosen burial place for the British royal family. The running of the chapel is the responsibility of the dean and Canons of Windsor who make up the College of Saint George. They are assisted by a clerk, verger and other staff. The Society of the Friends of St George's and Descendants of the Knights of the Garter, a registered charity, was established in 1931 to assist the college in maintaining the chapel.
The chapel has been the site of many royal funerals and interments. People interred in the Chapel include:
Altar
· George Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford, on 22 March 1479; son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville
· Mary of York, in 1482; daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville
· Edward IV, King of England, in 1483
· Henry VI, King of England, in 1484 (reburial from Chertsey Abbey)
· The coffins of two unidentified children suggested to be the Princes in the Tower (Edward V, King of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York); sons of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville
· Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England, on 12 June 1492; wife of Edward IV
· Princess Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, in 1832; niece of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.
· Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India, on 20 May 1910 (originally interred in the Royal Vault).
· Alexandra of Denmark, Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India, on 28 November 1925 (originally interred in the Royal Vault); wife of Edward VII.
Quire
· Jane Seymour, Queen of England, in 1537; third wife of Henry VIII
· Henry VIII, King of England and Ireland, in 1547
· Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, in 1649
· Stillborn son of Anne, Queen of Great Britain and Prince George of Denmark, in 1698.
Royal Vault
· Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom, in 1810; daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
· Princess Augusta of Great Britain, Duchess of Brunswick-Lünenburg, in 1813; daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
· Princess Charlotte of Wales, in 1817; daughter of George IV and Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
· Stillborn son of Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, in 1817.
· Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover, in 1818; wife of George III,
· Stillborn daughter of Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, in 1818
· George III, King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, in 1820.
· Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, in 1820; father of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom.
· Prince Alfred of Great Britain, in 1820 (reburial); son of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
· Prince Octavius of Great Britain, in 1820 (reburial); son of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
· Princess Elizabeth of Clarence, in 1821; daughter of William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.
· Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, in 1827; son of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
· George IV, King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, in 1830.
· William IV, King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, in 1837.
· Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom, in 1840; daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
· Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover, in 1849; wife of William IV.
· George V, the last King of Hanover, in 1878; grandson of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
· Baroness Victoria von Pawel-Rammingen, in 1881; daughter of Princess Frederica of Hanover and Alphons, Baron von Pawel-Rammingen.
· Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck, in 1897; daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, mother of Mary of Teck.
· Francis, Duke of Teck, in 1900; father of Mary of Teck.
· Princess Frederica of Hanover, Baroness von Pawel-Rammingen, in 1926; daughter of George V, King of Hanover, and Marie of Saxe-Altenburg.
· Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, in 1930 (reburial); son of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
· Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, Duchess of Cambridge, in 1930 (reburial); wife of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge.
Near West Door
· George V, King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India, in 1936 (originally interred in the Royal Vault).
· Mary of Teck, Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India, in 1953; wife of George V.
King George VI Memorial Chapel
George VI, King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and Head of the Commonwealth, on 26 March 1969 (originally interred in the Royal Vault on 15 February 1952, and moved to the chapel following its construction).
· Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, in 2002; daughter of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (ashes buried here following cremation in Slough).
· Elizabeth (née Bowes-Lyon), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India, in 2002; wife of George V.
· Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 2022 (originally interred in the Royal Vault in 2021 and moved to the chapel upon his wife's death); husband of Elizabeth II.
· Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth, in 2022.
Albert Memorial Chapel
· Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, in 1884 (originally interred in the Royal Vault); son of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
· Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, in 1892 (originally interred in the Royal Vault); son of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark.
Gloucester Vault
· Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, in 1805; son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
· Maria (née Walpole), Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, in 1807; wife of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.
· Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, in 1834; son of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh and Maria Walpole.
· Princess Sophia of Gloucester, in 1844; daughter of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh and Maria Walpole.
· Princess Mary of the United Kingdom, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, in 1857; daughter of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.
We leave the Castle and head back into town passing the Soldiers Statue.At the corner with Park Street is a beautiful statue of a soldier to commemorate the death of several of the Irish Guards that went to Afghanistan but did not come back with the fellow soldiers.
The Windsor statue crafted by a paratrooper with materials salvaged from the Iraq war.
We walk on and onto the Long Walk and view back to the Castle.
Created by King Charles II in 1682-85, this tree-lined avenue stretches almost 2.5 miles down to the ancient fortress of Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world.
The initial work included the buying up of land to connect Windsor Castle to Windsor Great Park and the purchase of 1,864 young Elm trees.
At the highest point, standing over the iconic view, is the famous Copper Horse statue depicting King George III. It was erected in 1831 to commemorate the King’s significant contribution to Windsor Great Park.
We walk into Town passing the Coldstream Guards Barracks.
The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonial occasions. The Regiment has consistently provided formations on deployments around the world and has fought in the majority of the major conflicts in which the British Army has been engaged.
The Regiment has been in continuous service and has never been amalgamated. It was formed in 1650 as 'Monck's Regiment of Foot' and was then renamed 'The Lord General's Regiment of Foot Guards' after the Restoration in 1660. With Monck's death in 1670 it was again renamed 'The Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards' after the location in Scotland from which it marched to help restore the monarchy in 1660. Its name was again changed to the 'Coldstream Guards' in 1855 and this is still its present title. Today, the Regiment consists of: Regimental Headquarters, a single battalion (the 1st Battalion), an independent incremental company (Number 7 Company, maintaining the customs and traditions, as well as carrying the Colours of 2nd Battalion), a Regimental Band, a reserve company (Number 17 Company) and individuals at training establishments and other extra regimental employment.
We walk back to the B&B for a short rest before going back out later.
After our nap we catch the bus back into town and pop into The Corner Ale & Cider House for dinner and to watch the friendly between England and Brazil ( we lost 1 nil!). Great selection of beer and ciders probably 20 plus taps.
It started to get really busy and packed in there so we walked on to find the breweries here in Windsor.
We eventually find the Two Flints Brewery and they were showing the game too, so I sampled a few beers while we watched the rest of the match.
Then we walked in next door to the Indie Rabble Brewery and tried some more beer here.
We left and walked back into town to try and catch a bus back to the B&B.
We pass the Diamon Jubilee Fountain. Installed in 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, the impressive Diamond Jubilee Fountain can be found in Goswells Park in Windsor.
The Fountain was inspired by the crown jewels and features 60 different water jets. There are also lights which make it a magical site at night. There is a garden area around the fountain where you can sit and admire the fountain.
We walk back pass the castle and onto the Crooked House of Windsor.
The Crooked House of Windsor, this quaint structure has a history that involves legal drama, royal mistresses, and even a rumoured secret passage into Windsor Castle…
The history of The Crooked House of Windsor begins in 1592, with the construction of ‘Market Cross House’ on the edge of Windsor’s market square. For almost 100 years, it lived a rather uneventful (and probably rather less wonky) existence, until 1687, when the council ordered the building to be torn down in order to make room for the neighbouring Guildhall. What followed next was some primetime seventeenth-century legal drama over land rights, in which the council was rebuked for destroying Market Cross House, and ordered to rebuild it just the way it was.
Whatever the case, that casual lean has given the house a certain notoriety despite the fast-changing cycle of business that have called it home. The Crooked House of Windsor has been a butcher’s shop, a brewery, and an antique shop, and been through plenty of paint jobs in that time, too. For a time, it was known as the oldest tea house in England, but it’s currently serving as the London outpost of upmarket jewellery retailer Jersey Pearl. Rather apt, since this house is a treasure itself!
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about The Crooked House of Windsor can be found in the basement. Rumour has it that a secret passage connects the building with Windsor Castle – allegedly one that let Charles II sneak out to meet his mistress, Nell Gwynn. (The sly dog also reportedly used one of the UK’s oldest pubs for the same purpose!) Though some believe the passage was actually used to transport goods from the market to the Windsor Castle kitchens, the romantic in me would prefer to believe in the forbidden love story.
All that history doesn’t come cheap, though; when The Crooked House of Windsor last went on sale in 2015, the asking price was a cool £1.5 million
There isn’t a bus due for ages so we walk the 25 minute walk back to the B&B and have a good nights sleep before awaking the next day for breakfast downstairs in the café and then we drive home.
A great weekend away!