By Paul Homewood

 

George Clooney is worried that his tennis court is under a couple inches of water at his £12m mansion on the banks of the Thames in Berkshire:

 

 https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11010338/george-clooney-berkshire-mansion-storm-dennis-floods/

 

He ought to be grateful he was not living there in Oscar Wilde’s days!

From the Royal Windsor website, we find that Thames floods were regular occurrences back then:

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.

http://www.thamesweb.co.uk/windsor/windsorhistory/floods1875.html

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February 27, 2020 at 01:19PM