1992 Windsor Castle Fire - Extent of Damage To The Castle

Extent of Damage To The Castle

There had been no serious injuries, and no deaths. Dean Lansdale (aged 21), a decorator in the Private Chapel, was burnt while removing pictures (of which he had rescued three). He was moved to the royal surgery, and then to hospital. Christopher Lloyd, the Surveyor of The Queen's Pictures, suffered a suspected heart attack, while five firemen were taken to hospital, two with hypothermia, three with minor burns and dust in their eyes.

The major loss was to the fabric of the Castle. The false roof above St George's Hall and the void beneath the floors for coal trucks had allowed the fire to spread. It burnt as far as the Chester Tower. Several ceilings collapsed. Apartments burnt included the Crimson Drawing Room (which was completely gutted), the Green Drawing Room (badly damaged, though only partially destroyed, by smoke and water), and The Queen's Private Chapel (including the double-sided nineteenth century Henry Willis organ in the gallery between St George's Hall and Private Chapel, oak panelling, glass, and the altar).

St George's Hall partially survived, with the wall largely intact, but with the ceiling collapsed. The State Dining Room (in the Prince of Wales Tower; which was badly damaged, as was the fabric of the tower), and the Grand Reception Room (80% severely damaged, though 20% of the ceiling was eventually saved) were also devastated.

Smaller apartments damaged or destroyed (and over 100 rooms were involved in the fire) included the Star Chamber, Octagon Room, Brunswick Tower, Cornwall Tower, Prince of Wales Tower (badly damaged), Chester Tower (badly damaged), Holbein Room, and the Great Kitchen (which lost its plaster cove, and most of its mediæval timber).

The external wall above the bay window of the Crimson Drawing Room (between the Prince of Wales and Chester Towers) was seriously calcified.

The Waterloo Chamber was undamaged, as were the Grand Vestibule, Rubens Room, Ante-Throne Room, Throne Room, Ball Room, Serving Room, and China Closet (which was not affected although it was surrounded by the fire). Overall some 80% of the area of the staterooms was undamaged.

Fortuitously the seven most seriously damaged rooms had largely been emptied the previous day for rewiring. The Castle had just completed an 18-month phase of rewiring in most of the rooms destroyed.

Items from the Royal Collection lost included the Sir William Beechey equestrian portrait George III at a Review, which was too large to remove from its frame; a large late 1820s sideboard by Morel and Seddon (18 feet long); several pieces of porcelain; several chandeliers; as well as the Willis organ; and the 1851 Great Exhibition Axminster carpet partly burnt.

Tourists were allowed into the precincts within three days. The Queen was in residence a fortnight later. The Gallery and Queen Mary's Dolls' House reopened in December. The State Apartments reopened early 1993 after rewiring was completed, with all major rooms open by Easter, when only St George's Hall and the Grand Reception Room remained closed. Thus 11 of 15 principal rooms of the State Apartments were open, with two still undergoing long-term restoration, and two more destroyed.