when did windsor castle open to the public
Windsor Castle George I took little interest in Windsor Castle, preferring his other palaces at St James's, Hampton Court and Kensington.[164] George II rarely used Windsor either, preferring Hampton Court.[165] Many of the apartments in the Upper Ward were given out as "grace and favour" privileges for the use of prominent widows or other friends of the Crown.[166] The Duke of Cumberland made the most use of the property in his role as the Ranger of Windsor Great Park.[167] By the 1740s, Windsor Castle had become an early tourist attraction; wealthier visitors who could afford to pay the castle keeper could enter, see curiosities such as the castle's narwhal horn, and by the 1750s buy the first guidebooks to Windsor, produced by George Bickham in 1753 and Joseph Pote in 1755.[168] [nb 9] As the condition of the State Apartments continued to deteriorate, even the general public were able to regularly visit the property.[170]