Hugh May - Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

In June 1668, May was promoted to Comptroller of the King's Works, and was also appointed Clerk to the Recognizances, an office of the Court of Common Pleas. In November 1673, he was further appointed Comptroller of the Works at Windsor Castle, where, from 1675, he remodelled the upper ward, adding to the apartments of Queen Catherine of Braganza, and built St George's Hall and the Royal Chapel. Again working with Gibbons, and the painter Antonio Verrio, May created a series of baroque interiors, the grandest of which, St George's Hall, served as a model for Wren's Great Hall at Greenwich Palace. The hall was demolished in 1826, when Sir Jeffry Wyatville remodelled the castle for King George IV, although the Queen's Audience Chamber and Presence Chamber survive in altered form.