The Battalion Colour of The Household Battalion 1916-18 is situated about half way down the church on the south side. It is unusual in that it doesn’t have any battle honours as these were awarded to the regiments instead. The silk Union Flag was awarded for Service in the Great War but the presentation did not take place because the Household Battalion was disbanded in 1918. The King's Colour of the Household Battalion was laid up on Sunday 25 July 1920. Lt Col W R Portal DSO MVO, late Commanding the Household Battalion presented it to the Rector, Rev H Tower MVO.The Carved altar rail is in memory of the Officers, Warrant Officers, NCO's and Men of the Household Battalion who died for their Country 1916-1918. It was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, Architect of Liverpool Cathedral and was dedicated by the Bishop of Buckingham, the Rt Revd Philip Herbert Eliot (1921-1944) on Sunday 16 October 1921. At one end the rail widens to a small shelf on which sits the Roll of Honour listing 444 names.In September 1916 the Household Battalion was formed from the Reserve Regiments of Household Cavalry under the command of Lt Col W Portal MVO DSO First Life Guards.On 8 November the Battalion proceeded overseas and joined the Fourth Division. They were put into the line near Sailly-Sailisel and suffered severely from enemy action and exposure in the trenches. On 12 October 1917 they led the advance in the Battle of Flanders and suffered enormous casualties until relieved on the 14th. Afterwards on the Arras Front in January 1918 they were up to full strength and efficiency, but owing to the shortage of men in the Foot Guards the Battalion was disbanded.The Reserve Household Battalion was formed at Windsor on 21 October 1916 under the command of Lt Col L H Hardy MC and the memorial should have been unveiled by him (his name was printed in the Order of Service but a press report records that he was absent owing to a family bereavement). Lt Col Wyndham Portal MVO DSO, Commanding Officer of the Household Battalion, unveiled the memorial and also placed the Roll of Honour on the shelf.
Those who come into the church through the main doors, under the tower, are greeted by a life size statue of Prince Albert in garter robes. It is on long loan from the Royal Albert Institute, is made of marble, and was sculpted by Signor Romanelli of Florence. There is a copy of the statue above the door to Royal Albert House in Sheet Street. Prince Albert laid the foundation stone on 4 April 1842 (in the middle of Spinners Field—the houses around the church came a couple of years after the church). We don’t know where the stone is but hope to find it when the paved area around the church is developed into a community garden soon.The inscription on the foundation stone is in Latin but translates as:Of this ChurchBuilt and dedicated to the most Holy TrinityBy the voluntary contributionsOf the faithful in this neighbourhoodTo the intent thatThe daily increasing numbers of Parishioners And the Military quartered at WindsorMight no longer want a placeWhere both together might joinIn the common prayer of ChristiansThe first stone was laidBy His Royal HighnessThe Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg GothaThe August ConsortOf our Sovereign LadyQueen VictoriaOn the IV day of April in the year of our LordMDCCCXLII (1842)The stone was laid in the presence of 7,000 people including the two regiments stationed in the town at the time: the Royal Horse Guards and the 72nd Highlanders. Prince Albert took an interest in the church as it was built and it is thought he probably designed the decorative ceiling (pictured beside the statue).
The clock was made by William Potts & Sons – a well known maker of public clocks at the time. It has a face on each of the four sides of the tower which is situated at the west end of the church. It was installed in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee on 20 June that year. She visited on 15 July to inspect the clock. The story goes that she was a little late and the rector asked for the clock to be put back so as not to embarrass the Queen – on arrival she pointed out that the clock was behind time.The clock is a smaller edition of the Great Westminster Clock (Big Ben). The dials are 4 feet in diameter, the figures 5 inches high and minute spaces 2 inches wide. The clock faces were originally gas lit and each had a crown above it (these were probably made of iron and would have eventually fallen off - there is no evidence of them now).The chimes are those of Big Ben so are set to the prayer:All through this hourLord, be my guideAnd by the powerno foot shall slideThe clock originally had to be wound once a week but in 1995 an automatic clock winding mechanism was installed. The (very heavy) redundant driving weights were removed by members of the Household Cavalry Regiment - there are 71 steps from the road to the clock chamber (plus 29 to the bell chamber).
The Deliverance Window is the rightmost window above the altar. It was made by Campbell Smith & Co and unveiled on 30 June 1882 attended by Queen Victoria, accompanied by Princess Beatrice, Princess Elizabeth & Princess Irene of Hesse. The central scene depicts Queen Victoria seated holding Sceptre of State in the right hand and an Indian chaplet in the left. The Angel of Mercy holding a sword lifts up a cloak hiding an assassin dressed as the grim Reaper of Death with sword in his right hand, broken in three pieces. The dedication reads “To the Glory of God and in grateful commemoration of the merciful deliverance of Her Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria on the 2nd of March 1882”. The window was placed in thanksgiving for Queen Victoria’s deliverance from an assassination attempt outside the Great Western (now Central) Railway Station in Windsor when Roderick Maclean attempted to fire a pistol at her. He was spotted and seized by two Eton Schoolboys who reportedly beat him with their umbrellas. At his trial Maclean was found “not guilty but insane” – the only possible verdict for someone who was judged to be insane. This led to a change in the law in 1883, at the request of Queen Victoria, which would allow a “guilty but insane” verdict in similar circumstances.Of the two Eton schoolboys little is known of Leslie Robinson (or Roberts or Robertson) – the other was Gordon Wilson. Gordon was born in Victoria, Australia, in 1865. He was the son of a Sir Samuel Wilson a wealthy farmer/landowner and occasional politician. They moved to England in the late 1870s / early 1880s and took a lease on nearby Hughenden Manor in 1881 (home of former Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, and now a National Trust property). Gordon joined the army, eventually becoming the Commanding Officer of the Royal Horse Guards (the Blues) – so Holy Trinity would have been his regiment’s church in Windsor. Gordon died from his wounds in November 1914 and is buried in Zillebeke Churchyard near Ypres. He is remembered, with many other members of his regiment, in a Book of Remembrance in Holy Trinity. Gordon’s wife was Lady Sarah Spencer-Churchill – she is well known for being one of the first female war correspondents and covering the Siege of Mafeking (and was Winston Churchill’s aunt).
