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Cranbourne Lodge

Sitting on the borders of Windsor and Winkfield, the Cranbourne Tower is the most historic of the old Royal lodges still to be seen in Windsor Great Park.

Cranbourne Chase was one of the many divisions of Windsor Forest, created in the 13th century. The Keeper of the Chase lived at Cranbourne Lodge, the present building being built around 1500 under King Henry VII. The tower was once part of a much larger and grander building which eventually fell into decay and was demolished in 1861.

The building has had many interesting associations over the years. Anne Hyde, the mother of Queens Mary II and Anne, was born here in 1637. The diarist, Samuel Pepys, visited many times to see the Treasurer of the Navy Board in the 1660s. Later, the Duke of Cumberland moved in when Cumberland Lodge was being renovated at the height of his patronage of Royal horse-racing. The famous racehorse, Eclipse, was born in the field below the tower in 1764. Most fascinating, perhaps, is the story of Princess Charlotte who was locked up in the tower in 1814 for having fallen in love with a minor Prussian prince who was thought to be beneath her!

The Cranbourne Tower is a private residence belonging to the Crown.