Castles · 2026

“Windsor Castle Before the Rain”

Windsor Castle behind its trees, the grey stone set between the green of the park and the dark line of the drive.

Details

TitleWindsor Castle Before the Rain

PlaceWindsor, England

Year2026

CategoryCastles

Dimensions21 × 29.7 cm (A4)

TechniqueInk and Watercolor on Clairefontaine paper

Palette of the work

Request information

This piece is part of my collection. Originals will soon be available to buy online — write to me in the meantime.

The subject

Windsor Castle, before the Rain

The oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world sits above the Thames at Windsor — a royal home for nine centuries. I drew it under a heavy sky, in the held breath just before the rain.

William the Conqueror chose the site; every monarch since Henry I has lived here. The Round Tower on its mound, the Long Walk, St George’s Chapel — it has been a working royal residence for over nine hundred years, the largest of its kind anywhere.

The weather is half the subject: a bruised grey sky gathering over the towers, the moment before a Berkshire downpour breaks.

So the colour stays cool and low, with the stone holding what light is left.

Where: Windsor, Berkshire
Above: the Thames
Oldest: inhabited castle in the world
Since: William the Conqueror
Chapel: St George’s

Windsor Castle and its Round Tower under a heavy sky — Windsor Castle from the approach — the Round Tower under a gathering sky.Photo: Ввласенко — CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A tower of Windsor Castle against dramatic clouds — A castle tower against a bruised sky, the weather about to break.Photo: Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

I painted the sky as much as the castle — that held breath before the rain breaks over the towers.

Ink for the Round Tower and the battlements; washes kept grey and heavy for the sky, cooler on the stone below.

It is one of a pair: this one braced for weather, its companion basking in a clear day.

See also · Castles A Beautiful Day at Windsor Castle · Alnwick Castle · Bamburgh Castle