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Description: | This is the last in the series of palaces which Charles II entrusted to the Office of Works. He decided to demolish the medieval castle which lay on high ground to the west of the city, just outside the city wall. On the site he intended to create an English Versailles. Our print, engraved by D S Peak, shows the upcast of the Norman castle mound in the foreground and the castle hall on the right. The first stone was laid on 23 March 1683, and the building rose impressively until halted by the king's death. His successors showed no interest in resurrecting the scheme. The designer was Sir Christopher Wren. What was built was only a part of the grand design, and lacked much of the fine detail of the original design.
The palace was later fitted up for French prisoners taken during the Seven Years War and the American War of Independence. From 1796 it was used as a barracks, until demolished by fire in 1894.
References:
1. James, Tom Beaumont. 1997. The Book of Winchester, p. 98-99.
2. The History of the King's Works.1976, volume 5, p. 304-313. | Format: | image/jpeg | License: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=gateway&f=generic_sitetext%2ehtm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&cms_con_core_subtype%3acms_con_text_what=copyright&%3acms_sys_group=%22sopse%22 | Subjects: | King's House Christopher Wren castle Winchester House Winchester Palace King Charles !! | Temporal: | start=1740-01-01; end=1760-12-31; | Source: | Sense of place SE | Creator: | D S Peak | Identifier: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | image/jpeg | Go to resource |
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