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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 Stamp showing The Long Walk, WIndsor Castle. Stamp showing The ROund Tower, Windsor Castle. 1862.
EUROPA Stamp showing The Norman Gate, Windsor Castle. Stamp showing St George's Hall, Windsor Castle.
Stamp showing The Queen's Ballroom Windsor Castle. Stamp showing The Waterloo Chamber Windsor Castle.
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
 
Miniature sheet of 4 stamps showing Elements of the roof of St George's Chapel.

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
Windsor Castle retail booklet.

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.

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.
 Prestige stamp book (other images to follow)
Windsor Castle PSB pane 1. Windsor Castle PSB Pane 2.
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

Machin definitive pane from Windsor Castle prestige stamp book. Windsor Castle PSB Pane 4.

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.

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.

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