East and north Facades of the Castle (exterior) at Windsor Castle, based on a sketch made by Sandhurst Military Academy drawing-master W. Alfred Delamotte for the tenth instalment of W. Harrison Ainsworth's Windsor Castle. An Historical Romance for the May 1843 number in Ainsworth's Magazine. Book the Third, "The History of the Castle," Chapter V, "The Last Great Epoch in the History of the Castle," mid-p. 165: 5.6 cm high by 9.7 cm wide, vignetted. ". . . proceed to the south front, of which the Victoria Tower, with its machicolated battlements and oriel window, forms so superb a feature at the eastern corner, the magnificent gateway receiving its name from George the Fourth, flanked by the York and Lancaster Towers, and opening in a continued line from the Long Walk" (p. 165). [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Passage Illustrated
To enter into a full detail of Wyatville's achievements is beyond the scope of the present work; but a brief survey may be taken of them. Never was lofty design more fully realised. View the castle on the north, with its grand terrace of nearly a thousand feet in length, and high embattled walls; its superb facade, comprehending the stately Brunswick Tower; the Cornwall Tower, with its gorgeous window; George the Fourth's Tower, including the great oriel window of the state drawing-room; the restored Stuart buildings, and those of Henry the Seventh and of Elizabeth; the renovated Norman Tower; the Powder Tower, with the line of walls as far as the Winchester Tower;— view this, and then turn to the east, and behold another front of marvellous beauty extending more than four hundred feet from north to south, and displaying the Prince of Wales's Tower, the Chester, Clarence, and Victoria Towers — all of which have been raised above their former level, and enriched by great projecting windows; — behold also the beautiful sunken garden, with its fountain and orangery, its flights of steps, and charming pentagonal terrace; — proceed to the south front, of which the Victoria Tower, with its machicolated battlements and oriel window, forms so superb a feature at the eastern corner, the magnificent gateway receiving its name from George the Fourth, flanked by the York and Lancaster Towers, and opening in a continued line from the Long Walk; look at Saint George's Gate, Edward the Third's renovated tower, and the octagon tower beyond it; look at all these, and if they fail to excite a due appreciation of the genius that conceived them, gaze at the triumph of the whole, and which lords over all the rest — the Round Tower — gazeat it, and not here alone, but from the heights of the great park, from the vistas of the home park, from the bowers of Eton, the meadsof Clewer and Datchet, from the Brocas, the gardens of the naval knights — from a hundred points; view it at sunrise when the royal standard is hoisted, or at sunset when it is lowered, near or ata distance, and it will be admitted to be the work of a prodigiousarchitect![Chapter V, "The Last Great Epoch in the History of the Castle," pp. 165-166]
Commentary
One of Windsor's chief builders and renovators was King George the Fourth, or "Prinny" as his subjects called him when he was Prince Regent and his father, George the Third, was insane. He conducted extensive renovations to the Brighton Pavillion and Buckingham Palace, remodelled by his architect John Nash in 1825, as well as to Windsor Castle.
Other Views and Related Material on Windsor Castle
- Windsor Castle from the Long Walk, Victorian additions and alterations by Sir Jeffry Wyattville
- Early twentieth-century view of the castle from the river
- The Frogmore Mausoleum, adjacent to the Long Walk
- Statue of Queen Victoria at the foot of Castle Hill, Windsor
References
Ainsworth, William Harrison. Windsor Castle. An Historical Romance. Illustrated by George Cruikshank and Tony Johannot. With designs on wood by W. Alfred Delamotte. London: Routledge, 1880. Based on the Henry Colburn edition of 1844.
Patten, Robert L. Chapter 30, "The 'Hoc' Goes Down." George Cruikshank's Life, Times, and Art, vol. 2: 1835-1878. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers U. P., 1991; London: The Lutterworth Press, 1996. Pp. 153-186.
Worth, George J. William Harrison Ainsworth. New York: Twayne, 1972.
Last modified 8 February 2018