Restoration: The Rebuilding of Windsor Castle

by Adam Nicolson

Just over five years ago Windsor Castle was devastated by fire. In this book Nicolson charts the years since the fire through to the final rebuilding, including dealing with the fire, the finances of restoring the Castle and the decisions on whether simply to restore or make changes.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Adam Nicolson writes a celebrated column for The Sunday Telegraph. His books include Sissinghurst, God’s Secretaries, When God Spoke English, Wetland, Life in the Somerset Levels, Perch Hill, Restoration, and the acclaimed Gentry. He is winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and the British Topography Prize and lives on a farm in Sussex.

Reviews

[Igenlode Wordsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly interesting book on a surprisingly interesting subject - I was barely even aware that the fire had happened, but Nicholson makes it a gripping narrative, then covers the organisational detail and the various technical challenges of the rebuild/restoration in a way that is accessible to the layman with zero interest in project management! I felt it could have done with a few more photos relating more precisely to the text (it discusses the proposed 'lanterns' over the 'Slot' above the kitchen courtyard, for instance, but shows only a picture of the originally proposed modernistic design together with a photo from below of the version as eventually installed without 'lanterns', so we have no idea what was being suggested for this area), but I imagine this sort of thing is limited by which images happen to actually be available. I did have this experience in several places: the photos are there, but when you turn back to them they don't illustrate the specific points described in the text...

There is a good deal of detail in the book of things I simply had no idea about previously; that there exists a special plantation of quick-growing straight oak trees, for example, or that 'water-gilding' involves putting a coloured layer UNDER gold leaf so fine that the colour tints it when it is polished! And I knew nothing of the mediaeval history of Windsor Castle, either; I think I had always assumed it had been built as nineteenth century pastiche, rather than being one of the ancient palaces of the realm.

Inevitably the book touches on so many subjects that it can only take a cursory view of most of them, but as big coffee table books go it was a lot more readable than I had expected.

[Kirsten Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was both fascinating and frustrating. Fascinating for some insights, like the sketch of a stained glass window done by Prince Philip, and frustrating for lots of jargon and the lack of side by side ‘before and after’ photos of the rooms. a keen interest in architecture or historic houses helps enjoy this book.