History of Windsor Castle UK

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1. Guest5266
   

   Windsor Castle is the most famous of all castles in England. The castle was designed to protect Norman dominance around the outskirts of London, and to oversee a strategically important part of the River Thames, the original construction, a motte and bailey (an artificial hill with a fenced area at the top), was built for William the Conqueror around the year 1080. Since the time of Henry I it has been used by a succession of monarchs; it is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. King Henry II constructed the first stone building on the site of Windsor Castle in the 1170s. The Round Tower, along with the original outer wall, was erected for King Henry II. King Edward III, who was born in the castle, demolished most of Henry’s buildings in the 1350s, replacing them with a new “round castle” on the raised earth mound in the center of the castle. Edward’s central keep has survived to this day, though with major alterations. The bloodiest episode in the history of Windsor Castle took place during the English Civil War, when Oliver Cromwell’s Roundhead troops seized the castle and used it as a fortress and the headquarters of the parliamentary New Model Army.  Further improvements and enlargements took place over the centuries until the magnificent castle we see today finally emerged in 1830. A favorite of Queen Victoria, the castle survived for most of the last century with few changes.

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