London, England – Windsor Castle

Forty kilometres west of London, Windsor Castle, with its high stone walls, towers and turrets, is the archetype of what a palace should be. It is also the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world. The current Queen has long counted it as “home” and is often there at weekends. You can tell she’s there if the royal standard (red, yellow and blue) is flying.

The Norman invader, William the Conqueror, chose the chalky outcrop above the Thames as a good site to build a fort in 1080. His wooden castle has long since disappeared but the 15m high motte and bailey (the mound on which the Round Tower now stands and the enclosed courtyard beneath) are still visible. The castle has been modified and extended ever since.

The earliest surviving buildings date from the 12th century, when Henry II rebuilt in stone. It was here that discontented English barons besieged King John on two occasions. In 1215, a short distance away at Runnymede, they forced him to sign the Magna Carta. From the end of the Wars of the Roses, in 1485, a more stable political climate prevailed in the country and building at Windsor became more about comfort and style than defence. The Perpendicular Gothic St. George’s Chapel, with its magnificent fan vaulting, dates from the period. Nevertheless, by the mid-16th century Edward VI could still say of Windsor: “Me think I am in a prison, here are no galleries, nor no gardens to walk in.”

Today the castle has an altogether important feel, overlooking the cobbled lanes of the town; A tour of the castle includes St. George’s Chapel, where ten monarchs are buried, the lavish state apartments, Queen Mary’s doll’s house, the gallery and the grounds. Repairs after the 1992 fire, which destroyed nine principal state rooms and severely damaged more than 100 others, were so well done they are almost impossible to detect.

Other local attractions include the Royal Windsor Racecourse, where racing usually takes place on Mondays, and LEGOLAND. This is a theme park mad from millions of Lego bricks, with more than 50 interactive rides, live shows, building workshops and driving tracks.

For more information about London, England visit http://www.GuidedTourLondon.com.