Norvic Philatelics - GB New Stamps and Special Postmarks
Windsor Castle - 15 February 2017
Founded by William the Conqueror
in around 1080, Windsor Castle is the oldest inhabited castle in
the world, and The Queen’s home. Our photographic celebration
explores iconic views and some of the sumptuous interiors. 2017
also marks the 25th anniversary of the devastating fire, which was
the spur to the extraordinary rebuilding and refurbishment that
almost 1m visitors a year enjoy. The fire at Windsor broke out in
the morning of 20 November 1992 and was finally extinguished
fifteen hours later.
One hundred and fifteen rooms were destroyed or very badly damaged
by the fire and over a million gallons of water were pumped into
the fabric of the building. The process of clearing, drying out,
rebuilding and redecorating the damaged structure was completed
exactly five years later.
A miniature sheet of an additional four stamps explores St
George’s Chapel, the spiritual home of the Order of the Garter,
Britain’s senior Order of Chivalry founded by Edward III. Building
began within the Castle in 1475 and Henry VII completed the nave
and extraordinary stone vaulted ceiling. Finally Henry VIII
completed building work by 1528. The architecture is renowned as
among the finest examples of Gothic in the UK – the late medieval
style of English architecture.
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1st class: The Long Walk, The
Round Tower, and the Norman Gate. Note the EUROPA
logo on the Norman Gate stamp.
£1.52: St George's Hall, The Queen's Ballroom, and The Waterloo
Chamber
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The focus of the miniature sheet is St George’s Chapel in
the grounds of Windsor Castle.
The four stamps feature interior details within the Chapel
1st class: The Sir Reginald Bray Roof Boss; Fan-vaulted roof
£1.33: Garter banners, St George’s Cross roof boss |
Self-adhesive retail booklet containing 4 x 1st class deep scarlet
Machin definitives and two stamps from the miniature sheet.
The coding on the Machins should be MCIL M17L.
It would not be a surprise for there to be a second similar
booklet issued on 20 November, being the anniversary of the fire
and the
70th wedding anniversary of The Queen and Prince Phillip, for
which special stamps are expected.
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ADDITIONAL PRODUCT:
With no evidence that last year's had any affect on Stampex
attendance, Royal Mail will again offer a limited edition of the
miniature sheet with Spring Stampex overprint/inscription, to be
sold only at the event in London's Business Design Centre.
There will be no official card in the pack this time.
The official statement reads: To support attendance at
Stamp shows a numbered limited edition pack featuring the
Minisheet individually numbered and with
Stampex Overprint will be on sale only at Spring Stampex.
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Prestige stamp book (other
images to follow)
Pane 1 - 1st class Round Tower and Norman Gate; £1.52 Waterloo
Chamber and Queen's Ballroom
Pane 2 - 1st class Long Walk; £1.52 St George's Hall
Pane 3 - 2 x 2p, 2 x 10p, 3 x 1st class, 1 x £1.05 Machin
Definitive stamps.
These should have security codes of M17L MPIL
Pane 4 - stamps as on the miniature sheet.
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Background
The Long Walk 1st
... was laid out by Charles II in 1685, the Long Walk leads from
the castle to the Great Park and covers a distance of three miles.
The Round Tower 1st
This stone keep on the motte was begun by Henry I and rebuilt by
Henry II. It now houses the Royal Archives.
The Norman Gate 1st
The gate was created by Edward III as the main entrance to his new
royal palace from the Lower Ward.
St George’s Hall: £1.52
Used for major state banquets and can seat up to 160 people, St George’s
Hall was painstakingly restored following the 1992 fire, fortunately, much
of the furnishings of the room were in storage as it was being rewired at
the time.
The Queen’s Ballroom: £1.52
The Queen’s Ballroom was extensively remodelled by William IV, but retaining
elements of Charles II decoration. The glass chandeliers are among the
finest of their kind, commissioned by George III.
The Waterloo Chamber: £1.52
The Waterloo Chamber was remodelled from a Charles II room, and contains
fine wood carving from that period. George IV when Prince Regent conceived
the room to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon and for an annual banquet on
the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo. The room is used for the Queen’s
lunch for the Knights of the Garter.
Technical details and acknowledgements:
The 60 x 30 mm stamps, designed by UP*, are printed by International
Security Printers in Lithography in horizontal se-tenant strips of 3. The
advance information we have says that they are in sheets of 60, but that
would make very unwieldy sheets 6 stamps wide, and they may well be in
sheets of 18/36 as the similar Buckingham Palace stamps were.
The 115 x 89 mm Miniature Sheet contains stamps 35 mm square also printed
by International Security Printers in lithography. The booklet is
printed in gravure by Walsall Security Printers. All stamp images Royal
Mail ©2017 reproduced with permission. (I
have found UP Design Agency in the USA, and UP Graphic Design in
Hungary. Neither seems likely but both are possible!)
The Long Walk © Michael Jones/Alamy Stock Photo; The Round Tower © Peter
Lane/Alamy Stock Photo; The Norman Gate © villorejo/Alamy Stock Photo;
photographs of St George’s Hall and The Queen’s Ballroom by Mark Fiennes –
Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017; photograph
of The Waterloo Chamber by Relic Imaging – Royal Collection Trust/© Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017. Photography of the Sir Reginald
Bray roof boss, Garter banners and St George’s Cross roof boss by
Charlotte Manley © The Dean & Canons of Windsor; fan-vaulted roof ©
Arcaid Images/Alamy Stock Photo; border image of the West Door entrance to
St George’s Chapel © Michael Dunlea/Alamy Stock Photo.
Products issued - we will be stocking only the Machin stamps from the
PSB, and the retail booklet.
Set of 6 stamps, miniature sheet, retail booklet. Presentation
Pack containing set and miniature sheet
Set of 11 stamp cards - Two First Day Covers - Coin Cover -
Prestige Stamp Book - Press sheet of 16 miniature sheets.
Special postmarks available for the day of issue
were shown in Royal Mail's Postmark Bulletins (download
here)
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This page created 4 January 2017.