§ SIR HENRY WILLOUGHBYsaid, he wished to ask the First Commissioner of Works, Whether he can state to the House what is about to be done to the ancient Towers of Windsor Castle, the Julius Caesar and the Belfrey; whether there is any plan of encasing those towers with new stonework; and whether care will be taken as far as is practicable, to preserve the ancient character of those buildings in making any necessary repairs?
MR. COWPERreplied that, although it had been found necessary to recase a large portion of the external wall of Windsor Castle, he was glad to say that that process had not become necessary in the case of the tower to which the hon. Member had given two names. It had little claim to be called after Julius Cæsar, since it was 1374 built in the reign of Henry III. The walls of that portion of the castle were so thick that, if decay continued at the rate it had hitherto done, a period of about 1,200 years might probably elapse before recasing would become necessary. He had impressed upon Mr. Salvin, who had charge of the repairs, the necessity of preserving as far as possible the ancient character of the buildings, though the taste and reverence for antiquity of that gentleman made such a caution superfluous.