18.
Alnwick Castle.
Here is Stirling Castle, set high on a rock, in Scotland; and here is Alnwick Castle, built near the frontier between England and Scotland. For centuries there was much fighting between the English and the Scots, though now, as you know, they have joined together in friendship, and are subjects of one King.
19.
Windsor Castle.
Here is the greatest of all the Castles. It is Windsor Castle—the castle of the King of England. It stands on a hill beside the River Thames, higher up the river than London. You can see the Round Tower in the centre of it. In all the old castles there was a strong refuge in the centre for final defence in case a besieger should effect an entry into the outworks, and this most important part of the castle was called the “keep.” At Windsor the Round Tower was the keep. Here to the right we have the church of the castle, called St. George’s Chapel. In the old times there lived within such a castle as this of the King of England almost a whole town of his servants. You will remember from the second lecture that the Parliament and the Judges used to sit in the King’s Palace at Westminster. In modern times people think it healthier and more comfortable not to be crowded.
20.
Windsor Round Tower.
Now we go inside the castle and stand beside the Round Tower. You see from the slightly pointed heads of the windows that the Tower belongs to a later time than that of the Normans, who built with round-headed windows.
21.
Windsor from Home Park.
Here is one more view of Windsor Castle. The Round Tower is in the background to the right, for this front of the building is new, and is in the nature of a palace rather than a castle. These wooded slopes are the beginning of the beautiful park which lies round the castle. Here are the rooms in which used to live Queen Victoria, our Empress, the mother of King Edward.
Western history is divided into three periods which are generally known as Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Times. The last of these periods began about four centuries ago. The Middle Ages included about a thousand years. The Romans belonged to Antiquity, but King Alfred is of the Middle Ages, and so are most of the castles and cathedrals, except St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was built about two hundred years ago, when the earlier cathedral of London had been destroyed by fire.
22.
Hatfield.