About Old Windsor

The Parish of Old Windsor extends from the River Thames, over most of Windsor Great Park, up to Virginia Water. It includes the famous ‘Copper Horse’ statue of King George III and the top half of the impressive Long Walk from Windsor Castle, ‘The Village’ a second, smaller settlement for the Crown Estate workers in the Great Park and Smiths Lawn, famous for it’s polo. 

The village of Old Windsor is set on the banks of the Thames and is also bordered by the beautiful Windsor Great Park and the meadows of Runnymede (location of the signing of the Magna Carta). The popular Thames towpath runs from Runnymede, past the former ‘Bells of Ouzeley public house (now part of the ‘Harvester’ chain) through to Old Windsor Lock and on to Albert Bridge. The village has retained its community identity with a selection of shops, restaurants, pubs & commerce.

Old Windsor pre-dates the town of ‘New’ Windsor as it had a large ninth century riverside Saxon settlement, with a royal palace providing a seat of government, and hunting forays into the vast Windsor forest, which continued with the early Normans. William the Conqueror’s Doomsday book of 1087 listed Old Windsor as the second largest settlement in Berkshire. The village almost disappeared after Henry I built Windsor Castle several miles up river. The ancient Parish of Old Windsor extended from the Thames to Winkfield and Windlesham and some maps still show ‘Old Windsor Bog’ south of Sunningdale.

An archaeological dig on the Saxon site of Kingsbury (in the field south of the Parish Church) in the 1950’s yielded many artefacts now stored by the royal Borough. The Parish Council adopted the ‘Kingsbury Beast (a bronze broach of a dogs head) as it’s logo. These origins have prompted several books about Old Windsor’s rich history which boasts some Roman remains, brick and tile making, grand houses for the associates of the royal household, a listed workhouse sponsored by Prince Albert in 1840, the Pennyroyal Almshouses and the Victorian tapestry and glassworks. 

For more information about the roots of Old Windsor you can read about it here on the website of British History Online. There is also another interesting site about Old Windsor's past to be seen here and be sure to check out the other links at the bottom of the page.

To see how Old Windsor looked in 1982 then visit Alan Cross's site and take the "Village Tour" at http://www.oldwindsor.info/ .

To see a Streetmap of Old Windsor then click here.