A History Of Floods In Windsor
By Paul Homewood
h/t Green Sand
A reminder of just how wet the 1870’s were around Windsor:
http://www.thamesweb.co.uk/windsor/windsorhistory/floods1875.html
Floods on the Thames, we learn to no great surprise, are nothing new! From the Royal Windsor website, we find that:
It is not widely known that in Victorian times, Windsor, and also the rest of the country, suffered flooding far more regularly than in the 20th century. Although this can partly be blamed on less effective river management, there must also be an element of extreme weather conditions. For example, a particularly severe flood seems to have occurred in 1852, the Illustrated London News reporting that the floods of December 1872 were some two feet lower than the floods of 1852. It has also been reported that a severe flood, possibly worse than 1894 occurred in 1774.
January 1869
The flood in Windsor in January 1869 pictured in The Illustrated London News.
January 1872
Thursday and Friday 25th and 26th January 1872.
A view from the GWR railway viaduct towards Windsor, with the floodwater reaching the lower areas of the town.
January 1873
The Floods of early January 1873 from The Round Tower
November 1875
A tinted and slightly stylised view of flooding around The Goswells in November 1875
January 1877
The flooding in December 1876 extended into January 1877. This view shows the Home Park inundated and only the raised roadway to Datchet, constructed in 1851, still passable.
1891
Floods in 1891 adjacent to the railway arch over Goswell Road.
1894
In 1894 a major flood inundated Windsor, the highest until the floods of 1947.
And then there was 1947!
A view of the flooded gasworks from the GWR Station
Oxford Road looking west from Alma Road as supplies are brought by boat to upstairs windows.
A view of Alma Road looking north. A DUKW amphibious vehicle emerges from Oxford Road,
The archive finishes:
Floods in other Eras
In the course of researching the above article, we have also found references to floods in 1915, 1912, 1841, 1821, 1819, 1774 when Henley Bridge was swept away, 1768, 1764 and 1742.
Comments are closed.
NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
I have always thought that this kind of thing is the very reason that the first conversation between 2 English people (after saying hello) was to talk about the weather.
It has always been, as you would expect of a small island on the edge of the Atlantic, very Variable and often quite extreme.
First drawing – January 1869 – note on the far left there is a bridge (? railway arch over Goswell Road) and half a dozen buildings. Third drawing – November 1875 – all of the above is still there but the left side perspective has changed and shows a long two-story building.
In the first (right-center) someone seems to be pointing into the building from a narrow boat. In the third, someone is walking down a ramp from a wagon. It appears this person is carrying something into the building, rather than out.
Great stuff. Stories we will never know.
Great stuff indeed. Thank you. Where have all the artists gone?
That site is a great resource. I found it before when I was looking into the 2013/14 floods in the Thames Valley.
John F. Hultquist
The bridge is there in both pictures even with a train on.
The view point and perspective of each artist is different.
Use the tall chimney as a guide.
I’m reminded of the Great Gale in the seventeen something’s (must look it up) which lifted an eighty-ton ship over Chesil Beach into Portland Harbour. Nothing like it since.