Windsor Castle, Berkshire

Work continued on the recording of the fire-damaged area of the Upper Ward. The largest single piece of work was the recording of the vaulted undercrofts below St George's Hall. These are formed from 3 separate vaulted structures, of which the Steward's Hall vault was thought to be the earliest, of mid-13th-century date. While the north wall of this structure does retain well-preserved 13th-century features, it is now thought that the vault itself is of 14th-mid-century date, and contemporary with both the Larderie vault to its north and the larger vault which occupies the rest of the range. The south wall of the range is apparently entirely of 14th-century date, and contained evidence for contemporary window embrasures, as well as later insertions and alterations. Some of these appear to pre-date the late 17th-century works, implying a reorganisation of this space in the 15th or 16th century.

In St George's Hall, there is now much clearer evidence for the sequence of roof lines in the west gable, part of the Royal Chapel until the 1820s. The earliest arrangement is marked by a low-pitched roof scar, still containing lead, which separates the heathstone (exterior) facing of the upper part of the elevation from the clunch below. A doorway gave access on to this roof surface, presumably for maintenance, with a string-course above which had previously been dated to the late 12th or early 13th century. A large arched opening, into which a smaller doorway has been set in the 14th century, is also part of this phase, now thought to date to the first half of the 13th century. The very high-pitched roof scar is thought to date to the mid-14th century, the only firm evidence for this important roof.

On the north wall of the former Royal Chapel, small but significant fragments of Antonio Verrio's painted decoration for Charles II's chapel were revealed. Dated from c 1680, the baroque hall and chapel at Windsor were amongst the finest state departments ever created in Britain. Unfortunately the great bulk of Verrio's work had been destroyed during Wyatville's renovation the 1820s. the small areas of Verrio's scheme which survive at high level are parts of his painted architectural setting, including columns, capitals, and garlands, the heads of 3 figures, and a figure clinging to one of the columns. Although of considerable academic importance, the fragments could not reasonably be put on display. Staff from the Painting Conservation Studio cleaned and recorded the material before it was protected in situ and covered by new plaster. The surface was recorded after cleaning by Survey Branch using colour rectified photography, and a photo-mosaic has been compiled from these images to provide a composite view of the surviving painting.

The analysis of further dendrochronological samples from the Kitchen Roof by the University of Sheffield has provided dramatic dating evidence for this important structure. The main construction phase has been dated to 1489, apparently matching documentary evidence for the repair of a roof somewhere in the castle in that year. If so, this is the work of John Squyer, who also built the surviving roof of the Choir of St George's Chapel. Major repairs and alterations were dated to 1577 or 1578, matching documentary evidence for repairs in 1577.

As sub-floor services have been replaced, evidence has come to light for earlier arrangements for sanitation and water supply. A number of large stone-lined garderobe pits have been found. The earliest, attached to the north side of the Chester Tower, appears to have been of 13th-century date, filled in when the area was enclosed within the mid-14th-century lodging range. The most complete example of such arrangements is in the 14th-century Kitchen Gatehouse, where evidence for the garderobe survived at principal floor level. A shaft in the core of the wall led into a stone-lined pit inside the western flanking chamber of the gatehouse.

Some work on the archive of the Round Tower Project has been carried out in the last year. This 3-year project comprised the excavation and recording of the buildings on the motte summit in advance of underpinning works. Recording was finished in November 1992, but work on the site archive was interrupted by the fire, and the core members of the project team have been heavily involved in the Fire Project since then. The archive is now being completed, with work on the stratigraphic, finds, and environmental records drawing to a close, and the summary by John Pidgeon on the recording of the 14th-century timber structures may be published as an interim report.

It is hoped that the Round Tower Project will be assessed together with the results of the Fire Project during 199798, followed by a combined analysis for both projects. Project outlines for this work have been agreed by AMAC, and funding is being sought from the Department of National Heritage.