It is now
almost wholly enclosed.
V. The Last Great Epoch in the History of the Castle.
A prince of consummate taste and fine conceptions, George the Fourth
meditated, and, what is better, accomplished the restoration of the
castle to more than its original grandeur. lie was singularly fortunate in
his architect. Sir Jeffry Wyatville was to him what William of Wykeham
had been to Edward the Third. All the incongruities of successive
reigns were removed: all, or nearly all, the injuries inflicted by time
repaired; and when the work so well commenced was finished, the
structure took its place as the noblest and most majestic palatial
residence in existence.
To enter into a full detail of Wyatville's achievements is beyond the
scope of the present work; but a brief survey may be taken of them.
Never was lofty design more fully realised. View the castle on the
north, with its grand terrace of nearly a thousand feet in length, and
high embattled walls; its superb facade, comprehending the stately
Brunswick Tower; the Cornwall Tower, with its gorgeous window;
George the Fourth's Tower, including the great oriel window of the
state drawing-room; the restored Stuart buildings, and those of Henry
the Seventh and of Elizabeth; the renovated Norman Tower; the Powder
Tower, with the line of walls as far as the Winchester Tower;--view this,
and then turn to the east, and behold another front of marvellous
beauty extending more than four hundred feet from north to south, and
displaying the Prince of Wales's Tower, the Chester, Clarence, and
Victoria Towers--all of which have been raised above their former level,
and enriched by great projecting windows;--behold also the beautiful
sunken garden, with its fountain and orangery, its flights of steps, and
charming pentagonal terrace;--proceed to the south front, of which the
Victoria Tower, with its machicolated battlements and oriel window,
forms so superb a feature at the eastern corner, the magnificent
gateway receiving its name from George the Fourth, flanked by the
York and Lancaster Towers, and opening in a continued line from the
Long Walk; look at Saint George's Gate, Edward the Third's renovated
tower, and the octagon tower beyond it; look at all these, and if they fail
to excite a due appreciation of the genius that conceived them, gaze at
the triumph of the whole, and which lords over all the rest--the Round
Tower--gaze at it, and not here alone, but from the heights of the great
park, from the vistas of the home park, from the bowers of Eton, the
meads of Clewer and Datchet, from the Brocas, the gardens of the naval
knights--from a hundred points; view it at sunrise when the royal
standard is hoisted, or at sunset when it is lowered, near or at a
distance, and it will be admitted to be the work of a prodigious
architect!
But Wyatville's alterations have not yet been fully considered.
Pages:
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296