In this oil sketch of Hampstead Heath Constable captured the effects of late afternoon with shafts of sunlight shining through the clouds.  He depicted Branch Hill Pond in the foreground and Harrow Hill in the distance, with cirrus clouds aloft in the sky and broken stratocumulus below them. John Thornes has suggested that the most likely date for this painting is 14 August1821, because although there was rain on several days in August, on some days the rain was in the afternoon and on others it rained all day, while the weather records for 14 August indicate rain in the morning (Thornes 1999, p. 219) – as described by Constable.