Inside the 11th century ‘Gothic palace’ – Windsor Castle

The Windsor Castle 1992 Fire: The Untold Story

King Charles III inherited Windsor Castle from his mother, Queen Elizabeth II though is yet to move out of his current home Clarence House. While the castle itself is not currently occupied, the grounds are home to several members of the Royal Family – including Kate, Princess of Wales and Prince William, who live at the newly renovated Adelaide Cottage. Home to 39 British Monarchs before this, the regal property has seen some significant changes over the years – particularly after the Windsor Castle fire in 1992.

The building was first constructed in 1070 under the rule of William the Conqueror, who chose the castle’s location “high above the River Thames”.

By 1806 the timber structure was completed though this was later changed to stone walls which still stand at the Gothic palace.

These most comprehensive renovations were made under King George IV in the 1800s, who transformed the site into the iconic residence that it is known as today and shaped its symbolic link to the British monarchy.

According to a spokesperson for the Royal Collection Trust, George IV and his adviser Sir Charles Long wanted the exterior to have an “imposing appearance”, which has been largely untouched since.

While the original structure of Windsor Castle was carefully maintained for years, a fire which broke out on November 20, 1992, changed the building forever.

The blaze originated in the Queen’s Private Chapel from a curtain that was pushed up against a spotlight, before ripping through 115 rooms – including nine staterooms. According to the team at Pioneer Productions, who made the new documentary “The Windsor Castle Fire: The Untold Story”, flames ripped through the building for more than 12 hours.

Starting at 11:15am, the main fire remained lit until 11pm, when it was eventually extinguished. The blaze swarmed the Chapel, Brunswick Tower, and St George’s Hall, with secondary fires not put out until 2:30am.

Dean Lansdell worked at Windsor Castle at the time of the fire and had been decorating inside the property shortly before it broke out.

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Speaking to the production company, he said: “I was a specialist decorator, working on the restoration of the castle, I was in the state dining room, working on the ornate plaster ceiling on the morning of the fire.

“My immediate thought on walking into the private chapel after hearing one of my colleagues, who was working in the chapel area, was shock. I couldn’t quite comprehend the horror of the situation for a few seconds, and then my next thought was to try to save as much as we could.”

Forced to evacuate the building before they could remove items, Dean and other staff had to leave most of the Royal belongings indoors.

Despite their heroic efforts, two works of art were lost in the fire – including a rosewood sideboard and a painting by Sir William Beechey.

According to the Pioneer Productions team, the renovations cost £36.5million, with some of the funding sourced from other royal residences.

The fire prompted Queen Elizabeth II to open up Buckingham Palace and the rest of Windsor Castle to the public, using the admission fees as a means of paying for the work.

This covered around 70percent of the repair bill, while the Queen donated £2million of her personal wealth to the refurbishment.

More than half of the damaged and destroyed rooms, including the State and Octagon dining rooms, were restored to their original design.

However, there were new designs for the fallen St George’s Hall ceiling, East Screen, the Queen’s Private Chapel, and Stuart and Holbein Rooms.

These were designed by architect Giles Downes who was the visionary for the iconic hammer-beam ceiling found in St George’s Hall today.

The roof is the largest green-oak structure built since the Middle Ages and is decorated with brightly coloured shields to celebrate the Order of the Garter.

Some rooms were left largely free of damage thanks to the expertise of firefighters at the scene. They managed to preserve most of the structure in the Waterloo Chamber and the Ante and Garter Throne Rooms.

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