THE GRAND STAIRCASE

The first sight of the interior which a visitor to Windsor Castle gets is pure Victorian - the grand Gothic staircase designed by Anthony Salvin in 1866 in 13th century style. The armour (including a suit of Henry VIII's and his sword) and the trophies of arms on the walls all bathed in diffused light from the great lantern windows above set the scene for what is to come. Over all presides Sir Francis Chantrey's magnificent statue of George IV who was responsible for so much of what we are about to see.