Windsor Castle is the principal residence outside of London of the rulers of the United Kingdom. The castle stands in Windsor, 21 miles (34 kilometers) west of London. William the Conqueror chose the site and built a castle there about 1070. The earliest parts of the present structure, however, were built in the 1200’s and 1300’s, during the reigns of Henry III and Edward III. Later rulers added to the castle. It now covers more than 12 acres (4.9 hectares). Windsor Castle is in the Home Park, a private royal park. The Home Park joins another royal park, the Great Park, south of Windsor. Queen Victoria and her husband are buried in the Home Park.
The dominant feature of the castle is the round keep (tower). It was completed in 1528. The keep is about 100 feet (30 meters) high. Fourteen other towers rise from the walls surrounding the castle.
The section west of the keep is called the Lower Ward. It contains St. George’s Chapel. The chapel was begun in 1475 and completed about 50 years later. The chapel has its elaborate fan-vaulted ceilings. In the chapel vault lie the bodies of Kings Henry VIII, Charles I, William IV, George V, George VI, and other rulers of the country. The Albert Memorial Chapel also stands in the Lower Ward. Henry III began construction of this chapel. Henry VII rebuilt it. Queen Victoria completed it in memory of her husband. King Edward VII was buried there in 1910. The Upper Ward, to the east of the central tower, contains the state apartments. They were built during the early 1800’s.
