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262

WI ND SO R .

B E R K S H IR E .

The Cem etery, at Spital, one mile south from the
town, is twelve acres in extent, and has a m ortuary
ch a p el: it is under the control of a Burial Board of 13
members.
The Town H all is a plain building in the Italian
style, supported by columns and arches of Portland
stone, and was erected in 1686 from a design by Sir
Christopher W ren ; the interior columns were added at
the request of the Corporation, who thought W ren’s floor
unsafe, but the architect, relying on his work, arranged
th at they should not touch the beams, as m ay be seen
on close in spection : on the north side is a statue of
Queen Anne, with the le g e n d :
“ A r t e t u a sc u l p t o r non e st im it a b il is A n n a ;
A n n j e v i s SIMILE*.! s c u l p e r e s c u l p e D e a m ; ”

011 the south side is the effigy of her consort, Prince
George of Denmark, in Roman m ilitary habit and wear­
in g a periwig, with the inscription :
“ S e r e n is s im o G e o r g io P r i n c i p i D a n ia a e H e r o i O m n i
S jE c u l o V e n e r a n d o : ”

the hall contains the portraits of Queen Elizabeth, after
Lucas de Heere, James I. by Mirevelt, Charles I. by
Henry Stone, the statuary and painter, commonly called
“ Old Stone,” Charles II. James II. by Sir Godfrey
Kneller, W illiam III. by John Riley, M ary II. Anne,
George III. and Queen Charlotte, after Sir Joshua Rey­
nolds, George IV. by Sir T . Lawrence, H.M. the late
Queen V ictoria and the Prince Consort, presented by Her
late M ajesty; Prince Rupert by Jacob D’A gar, Theodore
Randue esq. a benefactor to the town ; Archbishop Laud,
Charles Earl of Nottingham , by Zucchero, and William
P itt by Gainsborough; together with a m arble bust of
Charles Knight, the publisher, born at Windsor, March
15th, 1791, by the late Joseph Durham A .R.A. ; adjoin­
ing is a m arket place for flowers, m arkets being held
eygry Saturday.
The m unicipal insignia include a mace, m ayor’s chain
and badges, two cups and seals: the mace, of silvergilt, is 3 ft. 6 in. long and its shaft is richly chased
with a spiral band and foliage and encircled with
massive knops sim ilarly treated ; the large spreading
base exhibits the borough a r m s ; scrolled brackets
support the head, which is divided into compartments
by dem i-foliaged figures, and in these spaces are the
national emblems crowned, and each with the letters
C. R. ; the date of the mace is 1660: the chain and
badge of gold were presented by George IV. in 1820
and enlarged by W illiam IV. in 1830: the badge dis­
plays the borough arms within a circle and a wreath of
foliage, and is surmounted by a royal crown : the tall
^covered cup dates from 1660 and the smaller one from
1627: the earliest seal dates from the reign of Edward
I. (1272-1307) and bears a triple-towered castle between
two shields of arms, respectively of England and Castile
and Leon : the m ayor’s seal of the early 15th century
has a castle with four towers, over which is a stag’s
head caboshed and between the antlers a shield of arms
of France and England qu a rterly: the robes of the
mayor and aldermen are scarlet, and those of the
councillors of purple.
Fairs were form erly held on Easter Tuesday for cattle,
■on the 5th July, for cattle and wool, and on Oct. 24th.
The Theatre Royal, in Tham es street, built in 1815,
and rebuilt in 1910, after being burnt down, at a cost
of nearly ¿6,000, will hold 1,000 persons.
The Masonic Hall, in Church lane, designed by Sir
^Christopher Wren, is the freehold property of the Wind­
sor Castle lodge, No. 771 ; the Windsor Castle Chapter
of the Royal Arch and the V ictoria lodge, No. 2,671,
and the Commercial Temperance lodge No. 3,144 also
hold their meetings here.
The Eton and Windsor Royal Humane Society, estab­
lished in 1835, has its head quarters at the “ Crown
and Cushion,” Eton, and consists of about 50 working
members and roo honorary members, each subscribing
6s. yearly. A waterman is especially stationed at Cuckoo
W eir bathing place.
The W indsor Volunteer Fire B rigid e consists of a
captain, deputy captain, foreman, escape foreman,
engineer, sub. and honorary officers and 20 firem en;
the new head quarters in St. Leonard’s road, opened
in Oct. 1906, by Gen. H. R. H. Prince Christian K .G .,
P .C . is a structure of brick with stone facings, and
here a steam fire engine and a manual engine are k e p t;
a fire escape is stationed at the Guildhall, another in
Victoria street, and a third fire escape and manual
engine in Church street.
The Windsor or A Squadron of the Berkshire Y eo­
m anry h a v e , head quarters at the Wellington hall.
Peascod street.

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The D Co. of the 4th Battalion of the Princess Char­
lotte of W ales’s (Royal Berkshire Regiment) Territorial
Force have head quarters at Wellington hall, Peascod
street.
An Am ateur Regatta for Windsor and Eton is held
annually, when challenge and presentation prizes are
offered for competition.
The Thames swans are annually the subject of a visit
here in June from the K in g’s swan herd and officials
of the D yers’ and the Vintners’ Companies for (he
purpose of “ nicking ” the swans and cygnets.
Race meetings are held at different periods of the
year; the course, on Ray’s Island, above Clewer, al>„ut
a mile from the town, is on a flat, with a straight run
in of six furlongs.
The principal hotels are the “ White H art,” the “ Star
and G a r te r ” and the “ C a stle ” (commercial).
On account of its Royal Castle, Windsor is an im­
portant m ilitary station, one regiment of the Household
Cavalry and one battalion of the Foot Guards being
always stationed heTe. In Victoria street are Infantry
Barracks, considerably enlarged in 1867-8, and new
barracks were built in 1911 for 800 men. The Cavalry
Barracks, in St. Leonard’s road, will hold about 500
men.
Bachelors’ A cre, on the west side of High street, is,
by prescription and award, an old public recreation
ground, in which stands an obelisk, erected 19 May,
1810, by the bachelors of Windsor, in m emory of George
III. ; an annual revel was formerly held upon this
green.
The M ilitary K nights of Windsor, first instituted by
King Edward III. and afterw ards increased in number
by Sir Francis Crane kt. from a benefaction left in
1631 by Sir Peter le Maire, whose sister Mary he
m arried, have their residences on the south side of the
Lower Castle ward : there were originally 26 knights,
but two more were subsequently added, to make them
of like number with the Knights Companions of the
Order of the G arter, each of whom had the righ t of
appointing one Alm s K n ig h t: in the reign of Elizabeth
the number was reduced to 13 and the knights were
then nominated by the Queen, and called “ Knights of
W indsor,” and these constitute the present Royal
foundation ; the five knights of the Lower or Sir Peter
le Maire’s foundation, are also now appointed by the
reigning sovereign : the name by which the order is
now known was assigned by W illiam IV. and it at
present consists of one governor and 12 knights on the
Royal and 5 on the Lower foundation.
The Royal Albert Institute, in Sheet street, opened in
January. 1881, by His late M ajesty K in g Edward VII
then Prince of Wales, is a building of red brick, with
stone dressings in the Tudor Gothic style ; over the
entrance is a statue of the late Prince Consort, pre­
sented by Mrs. Richardson-Gardner : the building concains reading, billiard, ladies’ and class-rooms, a library
with about 7,000 volumes ; it has a large lecture hall
capable of bolding 500 persons, and a m useum ; in 1898’
d smaller hall was added, which seats 150 persons.
The government school of art and technical classes and
the meetings of the Operatic and D ram atic Society aré
also held here.
There are charities am ounting to ¿140 13s. yearly for
apprenticing; ¿270 18s. id. for education; ¿ 3 for a
sermon ; ¿2,307 10s. id. for almshouses &c. ; ¿ * 29
14s 6d. for distribution in kind ; ¿189 10s. in money
and ¿ 3 7 18s. qd. for the general uses of the poor.
K in g Edward V II. Hospital and Dispensary, in St.
Leonard’s road, is a building in the modern Italian
style, and has wards containing 52 beds, an isolation
ward, and every modern appliance ; it was opened by
His late M ajesty K in g Edward V II. in 1909; the num­
ber of in-patients in 1910 was 602, and the number of
outdoor and dispensary cases in the same year, 7,000.
H.R.H. The Princess Christian’s M aternity Home is at
23 Trinity place.
The Lying-In Charity is an institution for the assistance of poor women.
H.R.H. The Princess Christian’s Home for Trained
Nurses for the sick poor is in Clarence road.
The Windsor Almshouses, in Victoria street, founded
in 1503 by I. Tomson and W. Huntred, chaplains, arid
I. Cim be, gent, are for 32 persons, each of whom
receives ¿ 4 per year, with coal and bread ; the endow­
ment of these almshouses, first bestowed in 1510 by
Thomas Brotherton, and increased by Richard Gallis,
has been augmented by bequests from Alderman Hunt
and the late Mr. James Griffin.
Chariott’s Almshouses are for eight persons, who
receive 5s. per week.
The Jubilee statue of Queen Victoria, erected on the
Castle hill by the people of Windsor and the neighbour'