Constable painted this idyllic view from the area of Jack Straw’s Castle (a famous old inn), looking north-west to Harrow over Branch Hill Pond. The solitary tree in the centre is a visible landmark. As in a number of other works, Constable included a mounted figure with the horse drinking at the water’s edge.

Evening is falling, a calm, soft evening, with rays of sunshine radiating from beneath the dark clouds and lighting up the distant landscape.  It is the kind of scene that makes you feel it is good to be alive.