Charles came to the throne with an outlook that was probably more cosmopolitan than any monarch since Henry VII. His travels had exposed him to the most fashionable ideas and styles of Europe. In architecture, in particular, he had seen, at first hand, the most important new buildings of the age. Charles returned to Whitehall in 1660 with his mind full of French architecture, French design and French fashions.
On arriving in England he found that all of the minor royal houses had been sold and demolished and most of the larger ones were in ruins. The King wanted to rebuild Whitehall but, as it was the only residence that was properly habitable, his attention first turned to Greenwich. In May 1661 Charles II ordered a survey of the much-damaged palace and, within two months, the mason William de Keyser was drawing elevations for proposed new buildings. The plans for Greenwich underwent various stages of development. But the idea developed by John Webb was for a ‘U’ shaped palace that could be used for the reception of ambassadors and foreign envoys coming up the Thames from Gravesend. Work started but the energy behind this early, and very ambitious commission soon fizzled out and, by 1670, the project had been abandoned.
In the first years after the Restoration, despite a widespread feeling that Charles was going to completely rebuild Whitehall more or less immediately, little happened. In October 1664 Christopher Wren was helping Charles II to design a new palace there and in the following January Charles sent him to Paris to see Louis XIV’s palace of the Louvre and to meet the French royal architect Mansart and the famous Italian architect and sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini.
On his return work would have probably begun on the re-building of the palace had not London burned down. The King’s attentions tuned to country houses, to a major house at Audley End, and to a pleasure house at Newmarket which where he could stay and participate in the racing. Newmarket was soon to be abandoned as Charles’s eye had fallen on Winchester. Here in 1682 Charles decided to build, not just a place for staying during the races but a full-blown palace away from the troublesome capital city and from a hostile Parliament.
A great palace at Winchester was nearly completed but Charles died before it could be furnished. Charles’s great achievement was therefore not a new palace at Winchester but the remodelling of his oldest palace at Windsor.
Rebuilding a royal palace, especially one as large and ancient as Windsor, was a complex undertaking. Charles II was deeply interested in architecture, interior decoration, the decorative arts, in fashion and, as client, he was heavily involved in every aspect of the work. While works were underway the king regularly made day trips to inspect progress and give his opinions. But, of course he also needed a chief designer; today we would say architect – this was to be Hugh May.
May was probably at Windsor in the summer of 1674 when Charles decided to start a rebuilding. Like most monarchs who build, Charles was in a hurry, he did not want the castle out of use for five years; aged 44, he wanted to get on and enjoy the completed building. Thus it was decided to undertake the work in two phases: first, the royal lodgings and lodgings for the Duke and Duchess of York, which were to be completed in time for the court’s summer visit of 1678. Then a second phase, to start immediately afterwards, that would transform the hall and chapel, lodgings for domestic staff, for Princess Anne and external landscaping. In the end this was completed in 1684.
Amongst the building enterprises begun by Charles II, Windsor was to be the only residence he was able to complete and inhabit before his death. In the end the project was to cost over £200,000. It was Charles II’s greatest architectural achievement and May’s masterpiece. Sadly most of it was swept away in the 19th century, but a visit to Windsor will still give an impression of the splendour of Charles II’s ambitions and May’s skills.