By Paul Homewood

 

 

 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.