The Home Park, previously known as the Little Park (and originally Lydecroft Park), is a 2.65 km² royal park near

Windsor, Berkshire Windsor is a historic town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch. The town is situated we ...

, administered by the Crown Estate of the United Kingdom. It is the private grounds of

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

. It lies mainly on the eastern side of the castle in the 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Windsor in the English county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. The park includes the

Frogmore Frogmore is an estate within the Home Park, Windsor, Home Park, adjoining Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, England. It comprises , of primarily private gardens managed by the Crown Estate. It is the location of Frogmore House, a royal retreat, and ...

estate, and several private organisations related to the estate have facilities in the park. To the Home Park's south is the Windsor Great Park, largely open to the public. Home Park is listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

Features

The Home Park is divided from the main Windsor Great Park by the busy Albert Road (A308) towards Old Windsor. It is the private estate of the

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

. 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 urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

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

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

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

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

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 (on the site of the old Keeper's Lodge) and the Frogmore Estate, including Frogmore House, and gardens with Frogmore Cottage and a large lake, the Royal Mausoleum and the Royal Burial Ground. Also attached are Shaw Farm, the former

Prince Consort A prince consort is the husband of a monarch who is not a monarch in his own right. In recognition of his status, a prince consort may be given a formal title, such as ''prince''. Most monarchies do not allow the husband of a queen regnant to be ...

'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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, 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 Deer hunting is hunting deer for meat and sport, and, formerly, for producing Buckskin (leather), buckskin hides, an activity which dates back tens of thousands of years. Venison, the name for deer meat, is a nutritious and natural food sourc ...

) by King Edward III in 1368 and expansion continued over many centuries. Areas of the Home Park are mentioned in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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 natio ...

's ''

Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'' and show that the main road to Datchet then ran through it. The famous Herne's Oak stood nearby.

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

trained his

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

in the park.

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

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, when the road to Datchet through the park was closed and public access denied. Frogmore House and gardens alone are open to the general public 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

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