Castle, Henry VIII Gate

Henry VIII Gateway of Windsor Castle is the symbolic link between the Castle and the town and the main entrance to the Castle. Originally there was a moat and drawbridge. Today the great oak gates are secured with a heavy bar against the cobble stones when closed. Henry VIII built his gateway in about 1511. The panel above the archway displays the heraldic badges of the King, with the pomegranate of Queen Catherine of Aragon, his first wife. William the Conqueror built a fort high on a mound above the Thames in about 1070. Henry I was the first King to live here. Henry II built the shell keep (now the Round Tower) and began to develop the new town of Windsor. Edward III rebuilt much of the Castle and Edward IV began the building of the present St George’s Chapel in 1475, completed by Henry VIII in 1528. Charles II lavished money on the Castle after the Restoration. Queen Charlotte encouraged George III to live there, and they established a comfortable residence in the Castle after 1786. George IV turned the Castle into a Victorian Gothic dream. Essentially today’s Castle is as he left it, with improvements from James Bedborough who built so much in Windsor.