Windsor, Old (St. Peter)
WINDSOR, OLD (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Windsor, hundred of Ripplesmere, county of Berks, 2 miles (S. E. by S.) from Windsor; containing 1600 inhabitants. This place is said to have been the residence of several Saxon kings, but after the improvements made by Henry I. in the fortress erected at (New) Windsor by William the Conqueror, it speedily lost its original importance. The parish comprises 4349a. 2r. 17p., of which about 3000 acres are comprehended in Windsor Great Park; it is beautifully situated on the river Thames, and includes Cumberland Lodge, Virginia Water, part of the Long Walk, and other interesting features. A pleasure-fair is annually held. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 6. 8., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £270; impropriator, the Rev. G. Isherwood. The church is a very ancient structure: in the churchyard are several tombs of noble and distinguished personages. There is a chapel in the Great Park, a royal donative, built by George IV. for the accommodation of his household, and now used for the gentry, tenants, and keepers connected with the royal domains. At Sunningdale is a church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, which was completed in October, 1840, at a cost, including the endowment, of about £3000; the edifice is an exact model of the Lombardo-Gothic style, and the first of the kind erected in England. The living is in the gift of the Bishop of Oxford. A parochial school (now an almshouse), and four cottages with gardens attached, were erected in 1797, and endowed with land, which is divided into allotments, and let to 40 poor persons. Here is the Onslow and Jubilee school of industry, founded by a bequest of £23 per annum by Lady Onslow, for teaching gardening and agriculture to boys during one-half of the day, and instructing them during the other half on the national plan; and also for preparing girls for creditable service. The workhouse for the Windsor union is situated here; and in the vicinity of Cumberland Lodge are schools where more than 100 boys and girls are clothed, boarded, and lodged, at the Queen's expense. The Roman road from Silchester passes through the parish.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.