Hotels in Windsor

Hotels in Windsor

Hotels in Windsor, England are often required for short term accommodation. Many may want to see the town to see the castle or the other historic tourist attractions. Many may want to see the culture, the entertainment, the sports, the architecture, the history of the town. Some may want to see the scenic areas around the town. Some may want a hotel that has good views of the historic areas of the town or that has good access to them. Some may want a luxurious hotel or a more easily priced hotel.

Windsor is a suburban town and tourist destination in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is best known as the site of Windsor Castle.

The town is situated 21 miles west of Charing Cross. It is immediately south of the River Thames, which forms its boundary with Eton. The village of Old Windsor, just over two miles to the south, predates what is now called Windsor by around 300 years; in the past Windsor was formally referred to as New Windsor to distinguish the two.

Windsor is a popular tourist destination and location of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family. The castle was originally established by King William I of England but has been substantially altered and added to over the centuries.

As a result of the royal residence Windsor has facilities usually found in larger towns: two railway stations, a theatre and several substantial hotels. The town is also the location of Legoland, built on the site of Windsor Safari Park. On construction, several tons of hippo dung had to be removed from the enclosure used by the animals.

Windsor is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The name originates from old English Windles-ore, or 'winch by the riverside',[2][3] a royal settlement, now called Old Windsor, located about three miles from the modern town. Some time after 1086, probably in the reign of King Henry I, the royal household relocated three miles up-stream to the recently built timber motte and bailey castle in the manor of Clewer (noted in the Domesday Book as 'Windsor Castle'). By 1110, important crown weddings were noted as taking place at the castle and King Henry married his second wife there in 1121, after the 'White Ship' disaster. The settlement at Old Windsor largely transferred to this 'New' Windsor during the 12th century, although susbstantial planning and setting out of the new town (including the parish church, marketplace, bridge and leper hospital) did not take place until c. 1170, following the civil war of Stephen's reign. At about the same time, the present upper ward of the castle was rebuilt in stone. Windsor bridge is the earliest bridge on the Thames between Staines and Reading, when bridge building was not common. It played an important part in the national road system, and by diverting traffic into the new town, underpinned its success.
Thames Street, Windsor (looking north)

The town of New Windsor, as ancient demesne of the Crown, was a privileged settlement from the start, apparently having the rights of a 'free borough' for which other towns had to pay susbtantial fees to the king. It had a merchant guild from the early 13th century and, under royal patronage, was made the chief town of the county by late the same century. Windsor was granted royal borough status by Edward I's charter of 1277 which gave no new rights or privileges to Windsor but, as one historian puts it, "recognised [Windsor's] existence and gave it a legal status as a borough".

New Windsor was a nationally significant town in the Middle Ages, certainly one of the fifty wealthiest towns in the country by 1332. Its prosperity came from its close association with the royal household. The repeated investment in the castle brought London merchants (goldsmiths, vintners, spicers and mercers) to the town & provided much employment for townsmen. The development of the castle under Edward III (1350-68), for example, was the largest secular building project in England of the Middle Ages and many Windsor people worked in the castle on this building project. Henry III, a hundred years earlier, spent more on Windsor Castle than any other royal building project, save the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey. The Black Death in 1348, although reducing some town's population by up to 50 per cent, seems to have had less of an impact in Windsor. Possibly 30 per cent of the town's population died, but the building projects of Edward III brought many building workers to the town, possibly doubling the population: the Black Death, and the plagues that followed in 1361 - 72, were a 'boom' time for the local economy. New people came to the town from every part of the country, and from continental Europe, to benefit from royal expenditure at the castle. The poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, worked at Windsor Castle as 'Clerk of the Works' in 1391.

The development of the castle continued in the 15th century. Windsor became a major pilgrimage destination, particularly for Londoners. Pilgrims came to touch the royal shrine of the murdered Henry VI and the fragment of the True Cross in the new St George's Chapel (1480) and visit the same king's college dedicated the Virgin (1440) at Eton (now Eton College). Pilgrims came with substantial sums to spend. There were over twenty-nine inns in Windsor to provide accommodation, some very large. The town became very prosperous. For London pilgrims, Windsor was probably second in importance only to Canterbury and the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. Henry VIII was buried in St George's (1547), next to the body of Jane Seymour the mother of his only legitimate son, Edward (later Edward VI). Henry, the inventor of the Church of England, may have wanted to benefit from the stream of Catholic pilgrims coming to the town. His will gives that impression.

Eton is a town in Berkshire, England, lying on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor and connected to it by Windsor Bridge. It lies within the historic boundaries of Buckinghamshire but became part of Berkshire in 1974. Since 1998 it has been part of the unitary authority of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Eton College, or just Eton, is a world-famous British independent school for boys, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. It was founded as the King's College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor.

It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, north of Windsor Castle, and is one of the original nine English "public schools" as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868.

The school's Headmaster, Anthony Little MA, is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the school is a member of the Eton Group of independent schools in the United Kingdom. It has a very long list of distinguished former pupils, including many former British Prime Ministers. Traditionally, Eton has been referred to as "the chief nurse of England's statesmen", and is often described as the most famous public school in the world.

Windsor Castle, in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, is the oldest in continuous occupation. Over its 1,000 year history, the design of Windsor Castle has changed and evolved according to the times, tastes, requirements and finances of successive Monarchs. Nevertheless, the positions of the main features have remained largely fixed and the modern plan below is a useful guide to locations. The castle today, for example, remains centred on the motte or artificial hill ("A" on the plan) on which William the Conqueror built the first wooden castle.

hotels in windsor

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