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d ir e c to r y .]

B E R K S H IR E .

under George IV. d. 18th Feb. 1840, and to MajorGeneral Brudenell. Of the tomb of Henry V I. nothing
remains but his arms upon an arch. The Chapter
house, in which is preserved the sword of Edward
III. is placed at the north-east angle of the north
choir aisle, where also a door communicates w ith the
Dean’s cloisters, which contain a number of mural
tablets and inscribed flagstones. A t the western end
of St. George’s chapel is the grand entrance, flanked
by octagonal turrets rising above the ro o f; a broad
double flight of steps descends to the area in its front,
which is enclosed by the Horseshoe cloisters and the
houses of the minor canons; these buildings, erected
temp. Henry V III. and since extensively restored, are
picturesquely constructed of brick and timber and are
arranged in the form of a fetterlock, the favourite
badge of Edward IV
On the north side of the grand
nr>o to
fn t.hA
1. in a.
PTass plot,
mot. is buried
entrance
the eha.ne.
chapel,
a little grass
Prince A lam ayu, son of Theodore K ing of Abyssinia,
to whose memory an inscribed brass was placed by
Her late Majesty within the chapel; over the place of
his interment rises a tall cross of stone. The old
organ of St. George’s chapel has been remodelled and
altered from an F to a C in stru m ent; the new arrange­
ment comprises choir swell, great and solo organs with
pneumatic action and four manuals.
Opening from the cloisters, a covered way, passing
the east end of St. George’s chapel, leads to the
Albert chapel, originally built by Henry V II. as a
burial place for himself, but abandoned in favour of
Westminster
A b b ey;
Cardinal Wolsey
afterwards
obtained a grant of it from Henry V III. and began
the erection of a magnificent tomb therein for his
own in term ent; this costly structure was demolished
in the Civil W ar, A pril 6, 1646, and its im agery of
g ilt copper sold for ¿60 0 ; nothing then remained but
the sarcophagus of black marble, which in 1805 was
transferred to St. Paul’s and placed above the tomb
of Lord Nelson in th e crypt. On the accession cf
James II., Antonio Verrio, the famous Neapolitan
artist, was employed to decorate the ceiling with
allegorical paintings, and the building was fitted up
for the performance of Catholic rite s; in 1742 it was
used as a school-house and was subsequently converted
by K ing George III. in 1810 into a tomb house for
himself and his descendants, for which purpose an
excavation was made in the chalk rock beneath the
chapel to the depth of 15 feet, the length and breadth
being 70 feet and 28 feet respectively, corresponding
with the dimensions of the b u ild in g; the receptacles
for bodies on the sides of the tom b are formed by
massive octagonal columns of Bath stone, supporting
four ranges of stone shelves, adm itting on each side
32 bodies; at the east end are five niches and in the
centre twelve low stone tables are placed to receive
the remains of sovereigns; the sepulchre w ill thus
contain 81 bodies; from the columns a vaulted stone
roof supports the floor above; the entrance to this
solemn resting-place is in front of the altar steps in
St. George’s chapel. In 1873, Her late Majesty Queen
Victoria personally inspected the chamber by means of
a narrow flight of steps constructed at the back of
the a lta r; among the royal personages here interred
are George III. d. Jan. 29, 1820; George IV . d. June
26, 1830; W illiam IV. d. June 20, 1837; Queen Char­
lotte, d. Nov. 17, 1818; Queen Adelaide, d. Dec. 2,
1849; Frederick, Duke of Y ork and Albany, d. Jan. 5,
1827; Edward, Duke of Kent, d. Jan. 23, 1820; the
Princesses Amelia, cl. Nov. 2, 1810, Charlotte, d. Oct.
6, 1828 and A ugusta, d. Sept. 22, 1840, the Duchess
of Brunswick and several of the Royal children who
died in infancy and K in g Edward V II. d. May 6th,
1910. In the Albert Memorial chapel above this tomb
house was buried A pril 5, 1884, with splendid funeral
rites, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany K .G . who died
suddenly at the V illa Nevada, Cannes, on the 28th
March preceding, in his 31st year; also A lbert Victor,
Duke of Clarence, eldest son of K ing Edward VII.
and Queen Alexandra, d. 14th Jan. 1892. Shortly after
the death of the Prince Consort Her Majesty deter­
mined to restore the chapel as a memorial to her
husband, and it now presents one of the most splendid
interiors of any ecclesiastical building in the w orld;
the entire vaulted roof is covered with subjects worked
in Venetian enamel mosaics by Dr. Salviati, the nave
having angles bearing shields and heraldic devices and
the chancel other shields, with symbols of the Passion;
the blank window occupying the entire west end, over
the entrance door, is similarly treated, each space between the mullions being filled with a full-length
figure of some illustrious person connected with St.
George's ch apel; the stained windows round the chapel,

W IN D SO B.

265

thirteen in number, represent on the north and south
sides, with their heraldic bearings, the ancestors of
the Prince Consort from W itekind the G reat, A.D.
803; the five windows in the chancel illustrate various
subjects in Holy W rit; the wall under the windows
is entirely inlaid with marble work, consisting of a
series of Scriptural subjects, those in the nave being
chosen from the Old Testam ent, while those in the
chancel represent various incidents of Our Lord’s
Passion; these magnificent pictures are produced by
a process of etching on marble and are the work of
Baron Henry de Triqueti, who died in 1874; above
each picture is placed a bas-relief in white marble
of a member of the Royal fam ily, sculptured by Miss
Susan Durant, who died in 1S73, and below runs a
wall-bench of dark green m arble, beneath which ex­
tends a series of bronze grilles bearing Royal monograms
^ “ he m arble flooring, an ’ ¡„comparable
.
.
*.....................
,
?
___
work of its kind, is the work of Messrs. Poole and
Sons, and includes numerous varieties of richly-tinted
marbles, arranged in diamonds and circles. A t the
east end of the chapel is a cenotaph, consisting of an
altar tomb of marble, exquisitely sculptured by the late
Baron Triqueti and supporting a full-sized recumbent
figure of the Prince Consort, .n white marble, clad in
armour covered with the m antle of the G arter and
wearing the collar and G e o rg e ; the head of the Prince
rests upon a pillow supported by angels, and at his
feet lies his favourite hound, Eos, while he him self in
dying sheaths his falling sw ord ; statuettes of the
late Queen, with other figures, surround the sides of
the tomb, on the upper m argin of which is th e in ­
scription follow ing: “ A lbert, the Prince Consort, born
August 26th, 1819; died December 14th, 1861. Buried
in the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore. 1 have fought
a good figh t; I have finished m y course.” In the
chapel at the west end is another altar-tom b to H .R.H.
the Duke of Albany K .G . fourth son of th e late Queen
Victoria, who died 28 March, 1884, with his effigy in
white marble, in the uniform of the Seaforth H igh­
landers, sculptured by the late Sir J. E. Boehm bart.
R.A. and in the centre of the chapel is the altar tom b
of H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence and Avondale K .G .,
K .P . eldest son of K in g Edward V II. who died 14 Jan.
1892, with his recumbent effigy in bronze. The reredos
is a magnificent work designed by the late Sir G. G.
Scott R~A. and comprises a base of richly-coloured
marbles supporting three canopied panels, containing
bas-reliefs in Sicilian marble, by Baron Triqueti, and
surmounted by a cross. The communion table is
formed of a single slab of Levanto marble.
The office of Governor and Constable of W indsor
Castle is one of great antiquity and honour; the first
governor, or “ castellan,” W alter Fitz Other, or de
Windsor, an ancestor of the de Windsors, Earls of
Plymouth, was appointed by the Conqueror. The
present governor is the Duke of A rgyll P .C ., K .T .,
G .C .M .G ., G .C .V .O . A large portion of the castle is
always open to visitors, and the state rooms can be
seen in the absence of the Court, on Tuesdays, W ed­
nesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Bank H olid ays; on
the same days and times the A lbert M em orial chapel
is also open; the Round Tower is open on the same
days, but is closed during the winter m on th s; St.
George’s chapel m ay be viewed on week days, Fridays
excepted, during the summer m onths from 12.30 to 3,
and during the winter months from 12.30 to 4 ; the
north terrace is open d a ily ; the east terrace on Sun­
days only, from 2 until 6 durin g the absence of the
C o u rt; the Royal stables may be viewed daily from
1 to 2.30, and during the absence of th e C ourt until 3.
About half-past nine o’clock on the n igh t of S atu r­
day. the 19th of March, 1853, a fire broke out in the
Prince of Wales’s Tower at the north-east angle of the
castle, which threatened serious consequences, and was
not extinguished until half-past four o’clock the next
m orning: Queen Victoria and Royal fam ily had arrived
at the castle for their Easter sojourn only a few hours
i previously to the breaking out of th e fire, which was
confined to the tower where it had originated, the
damage being estimated at ¿6,000.
There are two parks, The Home or L ittle Park and
the Great Park. The Home Park, adjoining the castle,
contains 400 acres and is about 4 miles in circum■ference: avenues of stately elms and noble groups of
various forest trees adorn its wide expanse, conspicuous
among which are a number of magnificent oaks: here
stood for six centuries the celebrated Herne's Oak,
immortalized by Shakespeare in his “ Merry W ives of
W in d sor;” this venerable tree fell on A u gu st 31, i c6a,
having reached, it is believed, the great age of 650
years; the remains of the tree were, by Queen Victoria’s command, converted into various forms for