Pen, ink and watercolour, on paper. Four views of Windsor Castle, showing the improvements made by Wyatville from 1824, including the raising of the Round Tower by two floors in 1828. Each inscribed with title to margin.
’N.W. View of Windsor Castle.’ Framed and glazed. Overall: 24cm (9.5in) x 37cm (14.5in)
‘View of the Upper Ward showing the Round Tower and in the distance the Winchester’s Tower and Henry 3rd Tower.’ Framed and glazed. Overall: 24cm (9.5in) x 37cm (14.5in).
‘View Showing part of Queen Elizabeth Buildings King John’s Tower state Entrance St George’ Hall Kitchen Gateway Queen’s private Entrance …’ Framed and glazed. Overall: 24cm (9.5in) x 37cm (14.5in).
‘[View] of the Round Tower showing St George’s Gateway the statue of Charles 2nd & queen Elizabeth’s Buidings in the distance’. Framed and glazed. Overall: 25cm (10in) x 29.5cm (11.5in)
The most outstanding feature of improvements made by Sir Jeffry Wyatville RA (1766-1840) in was the raising of the Round Tower by two floors in 1828. On taking up residence at Windsor Castle in 1823 King George IV found it an extremely cold and inconvenient. Parliament granted funds for improvements and the King, assisted by a Committee of Taste known as the Commissioners, appointed Jeffry Wyatt as architect to transform the mismatched mix of baroque and medieval styles into a cohesive, highly dramatic Gothic-style palace. Wyatt celebrated the commission by seeking permission from George IV to a ‘ville’ to his surname to distinguish himself from members of his family who were also architects. The Treasury, remembering escalating costs of Carlton House, hoped that the Commissioners would act as a brake on the King's creative enthusiasm. Despite the cautious approach, the project went wildly over budget, rising from £300,000 to over £1,000,000. Wyattville, who took up residence in the Winchester Tower, was knighted in 1828 and was still working on the improvements at the time of his death in 1840.