Royal Lodge
The Royal Lodge is a Grade II listed house in Windsor Great Park in Berkshire, England, half a mile north of Cumberland Lodge and 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Windsor Castle.[1] It was the Windsor residence of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1952 until her death there in 2002. Since 2004 it has been the official residence of the Duke of York.
History
The Lodge dates originally from the mid-seventeenth century, there being a house on the site by 1662. By 1750 the small Queen Anne style brick house was being used in conjunction with the adjacent dairy. By this time it was known variously as the Lower Lodge, to distinguish it from Cumberland Lodge, then known as the Great Lodge, or the Dairy Lodge.
From the mid-eighteenth century it was home to the military topographer and artist Thomas Sandby (brother of the better known Paul), as Deputy Ranger of the Great Park. The house was then known as the Deputy Ranger's House.
It was enlarged by 1792, and was the home of Joseph Frost, the Park Bailiff, and then of the General Superintendent of Farms, after Sandby's death.
George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV), planned to rebuild Cumberland Lodge, after he had become Prince Regent. He used the Lower Lodge as temporary accommodation in 1812. Alterations and additions were undertaken by John Nash[2] for the Prince of Wales.
The chapels of the Royal and Cumberland Lodges proved too small for the royal households in the early 19th century, and the Royal Chapel of All Saints was built in 1825 by Jeffry Wyattville. The chapel is less than a hundred yards from Royal Lodge.
It was now a large and elaborate cottage in the contemporary style of the cottage orné, with thatched roofs, verandas, and a conservatory. It became known as the Prince Regent's Cottage after the prince moved into it in 1815. The renovation of Cumberland Lodge was abandoned.
Additions were made after 1820. In 1823 Jeffry Wyatt (later Sir Jeffry Wyattville) succeeded Nash as architect, and the house (known now as the "King's Cottage") became known as the Royal Lodge in the late 1820s.
After 1830, King William IV ordered the demolition of all of the house, except the conservatory. It became a residence again in 1840, and was used as accommodation for various officers of the Royal Household to 1843, and 1873–1931.
The grounds extend to 90 acres (360,000 m2), partly under its own head gardener, but mostly the responsibility of the Crown Estates Commissioners. While the house has grown piecemeal since the 1840s, and remains relatively small and informal, the grounds have a unifying plan. This was the result of work undertaken by the Duke and Duchess of York in the 1930s, with the assistance of Sir Eric Savill, of the Windsor estate.
The grounds contain the miniature cottage Y Bwthyn Bach, a gift to Princess Elizabeth as a child from the people of Wales (1932).
In 1931, King George V granted Royal Lodge to the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) as a country retreat. Wings were added on each flank in the 1930s. There are two lodges at the entrance, and groups of three cottages each side of the lodges. The main building has some 30 rooms, including 7 bedrooms, and a saloon (48' by 30' by 30'). The original conservatory survives.
After the death of George VI in 1952, The Queen Mother continued to use the house as one of her country retreats until her death. The Queen Mother died at the Royal Lodge in March 2002, with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II by her side. Following extensive renovations, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, moved into the house in 2004, having vacated Sunninghill Park,[3] and Royal Lodge remains his official residence.
References
- ↑ "Royal Lodge". English Heritage list. English Heritage. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ↑ page 175, John Nash A complete catalogue, Michael Mansbridge, 1991, Phaidon Press
- ↑ The fall of the house of York: Why has the mansion sold by Duke in mystery £15m deal gone to ruin? Daily Mail. 24 February 2009
Coordinates: 51°26′20″N 0°36′24″W / 51.4390°N 0.6068°W