Royal Gardens
Depictions of the gardens at Windsor Castle and other royal residences
PAUL SANDBY (1731-1809)
Castle Hill looking towards the Devil's Tower
c. 1765RCIN 914568
A watercolour drawing of Windsor Castle from Castle Hill, with the Devil's Tower (Edward III Tower) in the centre and the Round Tower on the left. At the centre, a lady with a basket stopping next to the passenger window of a coach and horse. On the right, a soldier and a gentleman are in a doorway. The sheet is circumscribed with a black line, and is mounted on a yellow, grey and pink wash line bordered mount. This is a later reproduction of a type usually associated with drawings from Paul Sandby's 1811 estate sale, but in this case applied to a drawing from the sale of Sir Joseph Banks. The coach is similar to that in another drawing by Sandby in the Royal Collection, RCIN 914365; the soldier appears in RCIN 914369 with his musket on his left shoulder.
In the eighteenth century the Devil's Tower was used by the Maids of Honour. The houses on the right were purchased for the Crown in 1779 in order to enlarge the Queen's Garden House. The whole area of Castle Hill was remodelled by Jeffrey Wyatville in the nineteenth century.
In the eighteenth century the Devil's Tower was used by the Maids of Honour. The houses on the right were purchased for the Crown in 1779 in order to enlarge the Queen's Garden House. The whole area of Castle Hill was remodelled by Jeffrey Wyatville in the nineteenth century.