On the left of the High Street, leading to the bridge facing Windsor, are the picturesque Tudor buildings and the huge chapel of Eton College. The great courtyard, surrounded by beautifully mellowed ranges of red-brick buildings on three sides and the chapel on the south, is delightfully picturesque; and the chapel itself, with its enormous buttresses and lovely Perpendicular details, is a noble work within and without. A statue of Henry VI., the founder, stands in the centre of the large courtyard. The famous playing-fields, where it is generally understood that those qualities which won the Battle of Waterloo were developed, extend down to the Thames.
WINDSOR
As one crosses the bridge, the long, imposing line of the castle walls and towers frowns above the red roofs of the little town, generally described as the Royal Borough of Windsor. A steep street winds up to the castle gateway, and as one approaches nearer, the work of Wyatville on the huge pile becomes painfully apparent. In vain does one look for the slightest indication that the whole of the great fortress, including the conspicuous Round Tower, was not built yesterday. This is the tragedy of Windsor, and after the first general glance one learns to expect nothing that tells its age by its masonry or its weathering. Everything, except the timber and brick Horseshoe Cloisters, is encased in harsh grey stone of a drearily uniform grey.
(Trunk) No. 11. WINDSOR TO LONDON.
The way into London from Kingston-on-Thames is over Putney Heath and across Putney Bridge, where it is only necessary to follow the motor omnibuses to reach Hyde Park Corner or any other central point.]
It was probably William the Conqueror who built the first fortress on the wonderfully defensive site raised above the Thames, but Henry III., the builder of Westminster Abbey and much of the Tower of London, who planned the castle on its present vast scale. Edward III., having instituted the Order of the Garter, gave up the lower ward to that distinguished body of knights, and it was he who employed William of Wykeham as his architect or surveyor. The third, and practically the last, great builder was George IV., who gave up the historic buildings, then in bad repair, to the tender mercies of Sir Jeffry Wyatville, with the results already deplored.
(The State apartments may be seen during the absence of the Court, but about a week elapses after the Royal departure before the public are admitted.)
The magnificent Chapel of St. George—one of the three finest Perpendicular chapels in the kingdom—was mainly built by Edward IV., and finished by Henry VII. and VIII. In the choir are the stalls of the Knights of the Garter, twenty-six in number, with their banners above. Edward IV., Henry VI., Henry VIII., and Jane Seymour and Charles I., were all buried in the chapel.