Windsor by Mortimer Menpes, R.I.. Watercolor. Source: The Thames, Facing 140. Text and formatting by George P. Landow. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the University of Toronto and the Internet Archive and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.]
The town has always been subordinate to the castle, for it was the castle that caused the town to spring up, as there were always numbers of artificers, attendants, grooms, workmen and others needed for the service of the Court. In the fourteenth century it was reckoned that the Court employed an army of 20,000 of such people. These would all have to be housed somehow, and the nearer the protection of the castle the better; hence the town on the slopes.
The Home Park, in which is the mausoleum, borders the river. It is separated by a road from the Great Park, made for hunting. Pope's poem on "Windsor Forest " is not particularly beautiful ; perhaps the best descriptive lines are those that follow:
There, interspersed in lawns and opening glades,
Thin trees arise that shun each other's shades:
Here in full light the russet plains extend;
There, wrapt in clouds, the bluish hills ascend.
Windsor Park is introduced by Shakspeare as the scene of some of Falstaff's escapades, an honour shared by the neat, bright village of Datchet, opposite. [144-46]
Related Material
References
Menpes, Mortimer, R.I., and G[eraldine]. E[dith]. Mitton. The Thames. London: A. & C. Black, 1906. Internet Archive version of a copy in the University of Toronto Library. Web. 18 April 2012.