Entrance to The Home Park, Windsor - geograph

The Home Park, previously known as the Little Park (and originally Lydecroft Park), is a private Royal park, administered by the

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priv ...

. It lies on the eastern side of

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

in the town and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Windsor in the English county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

. To its south is

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for ma ...

. Home Park is

listed Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Historic England.

Features

The Home Park is divided from the main

by the high-volume Albert Road (A308) to

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from ol ...

. It is the private estate of the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and, as well as beautiful

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

land, gardens and avenues of fine trees, contains much farmland (

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

grazing and winter feed), a golf course, a bowling green (for the Royal Household Bowling Club), a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

field (for the Royal Household Cricket Club), tennis courts (Windsor Home Park Lawn Tennis Club), the playing fields of St. George's School,

Adelaide Cottage Adelaide Cottage (formerly known as Adelaide Lodge) is a house in Windsor Home Park just east of Windsor Castle, in Berkshire. It is the principal residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales. History In 1831, under the supervision of archit ...

(on the site of the old Keeper's Lodge) and the Frogmore Estate, including

Frogmore House Frogmore House is a 17th-century English country house owned by the Crown Estate. It is a historic Grade I listed building. The house is located on the Frogmore estate, which is situated within the grounds of the Home Park in Windsor, Berks ...

, and gardens with Frogmore Cottage and a large lake, the Royal Mausolea and the Royal Burial Ground. Also attached are Shaw Farm, the Former Prince Consort's Home Farm and the Windsor Farm Shop. The grave of

Dash The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, the favourite spaniel of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

, can be found on the grounds.

History

Originally in the manor of Orton and not a royal possession, part of the area was first emparked (for deer hunting) by

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

in 1368 and expansion continued over many centuries. Areas of the Home Park are mentioned in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's '' Merry Wives of Windsor'' and show that the main road to

Datchet Datchet is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, located on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically part of Buckinghamshire, and the Stoke Hundred, the village was eventual ...

then ran through it. The famous Herne's Oak stood nearby.

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

trained his New Model Army in the park.

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

removed the deer in 1785. The modern boundaries of the park were set by the Windsor Improvement Act 1846 and the

Windsor Castle Act 1848 The Windsor Castle Act 1848 was a Private Act of Parliament enacted for the British royal family that reformed land use and rights around Windsor Castle, in Berkshire. The Act's main purpose was to create Home Park. All new roads and bridges wer ...

when the road to Datchet through the park was closed and public access denied. Frogmore House and gardens alone are open on a few specific days in the spring and summer. The Royal Windsor Horse Show and the Windsor Rose Show also take place within the park.

References

*Roberts, J. (1997). ''Royal Landscape: The Gardens and Parks of Windsor''

External links

The Crown EstateWindsor Home Park Lawn Tennis Club
{{Authority control Parks and open spaces in Berkshire Crown Estate Grade I listed parks and gardens in Berkshire