*WINDSOR, (Berkshire) 20 cm. 23 mm. from London, so called from its winding shore on the S. side of the Thames, where the Saxons had a famous pass, was granted by Edward the Confessor to Westminster-Abbey, but the abbot exchanged it with William the Conqueror for Battersey and Wandsworth in Surry, and other lands in Essex. Here is a large Ch. with a ring of 8 bells; and in the high-street is a handsome town-hall, which was built in the R. of Cha. II. It has a statue of Q. Anne at one end, and of Pr. George of Denmark at the other. It was constituted a Bor. by K. Edward I. with great privileges, such as exemption from all tolls of bridges, Mts. and Fairs. It sent members to Pt. from the 30th of his R. to the 14th of Edw. III. when it intermitted till the 25th of Henry VI. but has sent them ever since. It had charters from both K. James I. and II. by which the corp. was to consist of a mayor, high-steward, deputy-steward, a town-clerk, 2 bailiffs, and 28 burgesses, chosen out of the principal inh. 13 of whom were to be called fellows, or benchers of the guild-hall, and 10 of these to be called ald. out of whom were to be chosen the mayor and bailiffs. The members of Pt. are chosen by the inh. paying scot and lot, about 300, and the mayor is the returning officer. The manor or honour of Windsor, which was granted, or rather leased to the Corp. by K. James I. on paying a quitrent of about 4 l. has jurisdiction over many Lps. William the Conqueror, charmed with the convenient situation of this place for hunting, first built the castle, (which has been the residence of some or other of our princes, almost ever since) and had several lodges in its forest. Henry I. fortified it, and in the 10th year of his R. kept Whitsontide here, having summoned all the nobility of the realm to attend him. In the R. of Richard I. this was reckoned the strongest castle in the Km. next to the Tower of London. Q. Eleanor, wife to K. Edward I. had 4 children born here; and K. Edward III. surnamed Edward of Windsor, because hs was born here, took such a liking to the place, that he enlarged, and beautified the palace, at a vast expence, employing workmen in it from the 34th to the 43d of his R. who built the palace-royal and chapel, St. George's-Hall and chapel, the tower in the middle, the houses for the dean and canons, with all the walls, towers, and gates, and added ditches, ramparts, and several other places of strength; and in it the Ks. of France and Scotland were both at one time his prisoners. It is about 1 m. in com. and the work was carried on by William of Wickham, then the court architect (afterwards Bp. of Winchester) who caused these words, This made Wickham, to be cut in stone in the inner wall of the little tower, which from him is called Winchester-Tower. But this inscription rendring it dubious, whether he made the castle, or the castle made him, had like to have embroiled him with the K. till he cleared it up, by assuring his Majesty, that all he meant by it was that the money and reputation he had gained in building that castle had been the making of him. Edw. IV. rebuilt St. George's- chapel with greater magnificence, as he did the houses of the dean and canons, on the N. side of the chapel, in the form of a set-lock, which was one of his royal badges. Henry VII. added the fine buildings, joining to the Ks. lodging; Henry VIII. the great gate that opens to the outer-court; Edward VI. and Q. Mary I. a curious fountain in the inner-court, into which they brought water from Blackmore-Park, that served the whole castle. Q. Eliz. added the noble terrace, faced with free-stone ramparts; a sumptuous work, covered with a fine gravel, and so contrived with cavities and drains, that not a drop of rain will rest on it, it being dry and hard enough to walk on immediately after the greatest showers; and this Queen generally walked here an hour before dinner, except in windy weather, to which she had an aversion; but in a sober rain she often liked to walk here under an umbrella. It is so spacious, especially on the N. side, that none of the palaces in France, or Italy, have any thing like it. The terrace bel. to the Grand Signior's seraglio in the outer-court, next to the sea, is said to come up the nearest to it. Cha. I. built a gate at the end of this terrace which leads to the park, and a most beautiful walk. At the N. E. corner of it is a little seat (said likewise to be Q. Eliz's. invention) that will not hold above two persons at most, with a high back and cover for the head, which, like the late Q. Caroline's chair in Kensington-Gardens, was contrived to turn about with ease by those who sit in it, so as to give shade from the sun, or shelter from the weather. The rooms over this terrace survey the finest and richest vale in the world, reaching to and including London one way, and Oxford another, with the beautiful and bountiful Thames gliding through it from the one city to the other, and enriching the Ts. and villages on each side by its navigation. Charles II. laid out great sums in repairing, new modelling, and new furnishing this palace; and there is a fine equestrian statue of him erected in 1680, over a well sunk in the inner-court for supplying the castle with water at its first building. James II. and William III. continued the ornaments of painting here; so that the apartments are now as fine as any in Europe,and the rooms larger and loftier than those of the boasted palace of Versailles. To describe all the pictures in this palace done by the most eminent Dutch and Italian masters, and all the rich furniture in the royal lodgings, would take up a volume. St. George's- Hall, which is paved with marble, and one of the finest rooms in christendom, was designed, from the first institution of the garter, for entertaining the Kts. at their instalment, and the Sovereign used to feast them here every St. Georges- day; but the last was that made by Cha. II. at the installation of the E. of Mulgrave, afterwards created D. of Buckinghamshire. The royal chapel, at the W. end of it, is also paved with marble, and adorned with carved work, beyond any that can be seen in England. The governor, or constable, of the castle lives in the round tower, which is built, like an amphitheatre, so high, that St. Paul's-Cathedral in London may be seen from it; and there is a tradition, which is generally believed, that its clock was once very distinctly heard to strike 13 at the midnight hour, by a centinel then posted on the terrace. St. George's-Chapel, in which the Kts. of the most noble order of the garter are installed, was begun so long ago as 1337, and is one of the most beautiful and stately gothic buildings in the world. In the choir are the stalls of the 26 Kts. of the order, and the banners over them, with a throne for the Sovereign. As the Kts. die, their banners are taken down, and their titles and coats of arms are engraved on little copperplates, and nailed to the stalls, from whence they are never removed. By the registry of the garter, of which the dean of Windsor is keeper, the Bp. of Salisbury chancellor, and the Bp. of Winchester prelate (which honors are annexed to their fees) it appears, that besides our own Ks. who have been sovereigns of this most noble order ever since its institution by Edw. III. there have been 8 emperors of Germany Kts.-companions of it, above 30 Ks. of foreign nations, 10 electors of the empire, 14 other sovereign princes, 6 princes of Orange, a prince of Hesle, a prince of Saxe-Gotha, a margrave of Brandenburg-Anspach, besides marshals, dukes or peers of France, and grandees of Spain; while it is observed, to the honour of the English monarchs, that they never accepted of any of the orders created by the foreign sovereigns. A little before the institution of the Kts. of the garter, K. Edward founded a college for a custos, 12 secular canons, 13 priests, 4 clerks, 6 choristers, and 26 alms-Kts, &c. to the honour of St. George and Edw. the Confessor; but in the R. of Edw. IV. the title of custos was changed into dean, and the college incorporated by the name of dean and canons of the free chapel of St. George within the castle of Windsor. The 26 alms-Kts. were to be gentlemen wounded in the wars, or impaired by indigence or age, and these were by Edw. III. stiled the Peer Kts. of Windsor. In the 22d of Edw. IV. their pensions were withdrawn, and they were separated from the college; but they were afterwards reunited, and their provision ratified by Pt. in the Rs. of Hen. VIII. and Q. Eliz. They are now reduced to 18, with the allowance of 40 l. a year each. They wear a cassock of red cloth, reaching down to their ancles, with a large mantle of purple, and St. George's cross embroidered on their left shoulder; and they are obliged to go twice a day to their stalls in the chapel, which are immediately below those of the garter-Kts. to pray for the sovereign and the Kts. of the garter. In this chapel, in a tomb-house built by cardinal Wolsey, lie the bodies of Hen. VIII. and his last Q. Hen. VI. and Edw. IV. who has a fine monument of steel erected over him; and in the choir of this chapel lies Cha. I. In a little chapel here lie the Ds. of Beaufort, descended from the house of Lancaster, as does in another the that of Sir Reginald Bray, who was a liberal benefactor towards finishing the body of the chapel. Joining to the little park, there is a neat palace, which was purchased by Prss. Ann of Denmark, who lived in it, while in disgrace with the late K. William. The late D. of St. Albans had a palace here also, which was built by his mother. The walks of the little park, which is not much more than 3 m. round, but well-stocked with deer, are finely shaded with trees; and the keeper's lodge is a charming habitation, being adorned with fine gardens, &c. by admiral Churchill (brother to the Pr. and D. of Marlborough) who had this employment, particularly with the history of the expedition to Mexico by Cortez, the famous Spanish general, painted on mother of pearl, and which was presented to the admiral out of the spoils taken at Port St. Mary and Vigo. The great park, which is 14 m. in com. and stocked with all manner of game, is so embellished by nature, that it surpasses all the gardens of art. The ranger's or keeper's lodge here, which was built in the R. of Cha. II. received such additions from the late E. of Portland and the Dss. dowager of Marlborough, who had both that employment, as makes it a compleat villa, now the residence of his Royal Highness the D. of Cumberland. In the forest, which is 30 m. round, are several noble seats, particularly Cranburn-Lodge built by the late E. of Ranelagh, which stands on the top of a hill, with a view not only of Windsor, and its parks, but of London on the E. and of rising grounds covered with trees on the W. The families of the E. of Plymouth and Lds. Montjoy, who are surnamed Windsor, are branches descended from Walter son of Otho, who was castellan of Windsor in the R. of William the Conq. as it is said are also the Fitzgeralds Es. of Kildare and Desmond. The Mts. here are W. and S. for corn and cattle. Fairs, on Easter-Tu. for wool and leather, June 24 and Octob. 16 for cattle, &c. Here are several almshs. and other considerable benefactions to the poor. At Old-Windsor the late Ld. Weymouth had a seat.