Constable painted this scene at sunset looking west over Branch Hill Pond, gleaming in the right foreground, towards Harrow in the distance. There is fair agreement between Constable’s inscription and the weather records for the London area on that day. By noting the ‘very heavy rain’ that preceded this sketch and the rain and high wind on the following day Constable showed his interest in the development of weather (Thornes 1999, p. 227).