IN succeeding Times King _Hen._ VII. added that stately Fabrick adjoining to the King’s Lodgings, in the Upper Ward. King _Hen._ VIII. re-edified the great Gate at the Entrance into the Lower Ward. King _Edw._ VI. began, and Queen _Mary_ perfected the Conveying the Water, from _Blackmore-Park_ in _Wingfield_ Parish, into a Fountain of curious Workmanship erected in the Middle Ward, which supplied all the Castle. Queen _Elizabeth_ made a Terrace Work on the North side of the Castle; from whence there is a pleasant Prospect down upon _Eaton-bridge_, the _Thames_, and the adjacent Country. King _Charles_ I. _A. D._ 1636. built the Gate at the East end of the Terrace, which leads into the Park. And lastly, King _Charles_ II. greatly beautified and repair’d the Fabrick, and furnish’d it with a curious Armory; and, in fine, every Thing is so fitly disposed and ordered, that they are worthy of the Notice of every nice and curious Traveller.
CAMDEN elegantly describes its Situation in Prose in this manner: _From an Hill_ (says he) _that rises with a gentle Ascent, it enjoyeth a most delightful Prospect round about; foreright, in the Front, it overlooketh a Vale, lying out far and wide, garnished with Corn Fields, flourishing with Meadows, deck’d with Groves on either side, and watered with the most mild and calm River_ Thames. _Behind it arise Hills every where, neither rough nor over high, attired, as it were with Woods, and even dedicated, as one would say, by Nature, to hunting Game._
Windesor, #the next (where# Mars #with# Venus #dwells, Beauty with Strength) above the Valley swells Into my Eye, and doth it self present With such an easy and unforc’d ascent, That no stupendious Precipice denies Access, no horror turns away our Eyes; But such a Rise as doth at once invite A Pleasure, and a reverence from our sight. Thy mighty Masters Emblem, in whose face Sat Meekness heightned with Majestick Grace; Such seems thy gentle height, made only proud To be the Basis of that pompous Load. Than which a nobler weight no Mountain bears But Atlas only that supports the Spheres.#
This Castle is under the Government of a Constable, so call’d in the Reign of King _John_, and has bore that Denomination ever since: The Office is of great Antiquity, Honour and Power, but of small Revenue, for it is partly Military and Civil; as Military he commands the Castle and any Garrison placed therein, and is obliged to defend it against all Enemies whatsoever; all the Prisoners brought hither are committed to his Charge, and is answerable for all that is in the Castle to the King, under whom he is Commander, as a Civil Officer. He is Judge of a Court of Record held there by Prescription, for determining, by way of Common Law, all Pleas between Party and Party, arising within the Precincts of the Forest of _Windsor_, and Liberties thereof, which compriseth many Towns; and all legal Processes issue out in his Name. He is allowed a Deputy learned in the Law, who is called the Steward of the Court of Record, and is Keeper of the Constable’s Seal of Office. This Officer supplies the Constable’s Place as a Judge of the Court of _Common Pleas_, from whose Judgment the Appeal is by Writ of Error returnable in the _King’s-Bench_, or _Common Pleas_ at _Westminster_. The Constable is likewise Forester and Warden of the Forest of _Windsor_, which is an 120 Miles in compass. He hath under him one or more Lieutenants at his Pleasure, and may imprison any Trespasser in Vert and Venison Convict, having a Prison in the Castle for that Purpose, named the _Coalhole_. He hath the Freedom of using the Sports of the Forest, which is granted to no Person without his or the King’s License, and signs all Warrants to kill Deer, (except what the King signs) and is to fell Timber and Wood.
