Windsor Castle Park Webcam – See a Colonial Virginia Farm

The Windsor Castle Park Webcam looks across the grounds of an 18th-century farm in Smithfield, Virginia, now the heart of a 208-acre (84-hectare) town park. A row of red farm buildings runs down the left of the frame, a white picket fence crosses the lawn, and a brick terrace with a single lamp post fills the bottom right corner. Beyond the trees, a strip of open water shows through a gap in the canopy, toward the Pagan River. The appeal is slow change. Shadows swing across the grass through the day, the hardwoods turn in autumn and stand bare in winter, and because the restored farm buildings now host events, the terrace and lawn are sometimes busy with people setting up.

About Windsor Castle Park

On September 10, 1637, Arthur Smith I patented 1,450 acres (587 hectares) in what was then Warraskoyack Shire, later Isle of Wight County. The grant described “a neck of land running S.E. along a creek behind Pagan Shore”, the same tongue of ground the park holds today between the Pagan River and Cypress Creek. Before that it was Warraskoyack land. Arthur Smith IV, a great-grandson, laid out the town of Smithfield in 1750, which is why the old farm now sits in the middle of downtown.

Archaeology and the style of the brickwork suggest the manor house was begun by about 1725. It gained a one-room addition after 1755 and a larger expansion in the 1840s under owner Watson P. Jordan. Today it is a one-and-a-half-story house of stuccoed masonry with twin chimneys at each gable end, a colonial farm dwelling later remodeled with Greek Revival features. The name Windsor Castle is first recorded only in 1884. A tenant house, granaries, a smokehouse, a log corncrib, a kitchen and a stable date from several building campaigns across the 18th and 19th centuries, set in parallel rows toward the Pagan River, and the red buildings on the left of the camera’s view belong to that complex. The property joined the Virginia Landmarks Register on June 14, 2000, and the National Register of Historic Places on August 2, 2000.

The park came from a $5 million gift by Joseph W. Luter III to buy and develop the farm, and Governor Bob McDonnell spoke at its dedication on May 22, 2010. A later rehabilitation of the historic buildings, worth more than $2 million and backed by state historic tax credits, readied them for events.

Weather and Climate in Smithfield, Virginia

Winters are mild. January afternoons average about 9 C (48 F) and nights fall to around 1 C (33 F), so frost can whiten the grass on clear mornings. In winter the Windsor Castle Park Webcam shows the deciduous trees around the lawn bare, while the pines on the left stay dark green. Spring warms quickly, with April highs near 21 C (69 F) and May highs near 25 C (77 F).

Summer is hot and humid. July is the warmest month, with average highs around 31 C (88 F) and lows of about 23 C (73 F), and it is also the wettest, with about 130 millimeters (5.2 inches) of rain. Rain falls all year, from roughly 75 millimeters (3 inches) in November up to that July peak. Autumn is the gentlest season on camera: October highs average about 22 C (71 F), the light drops lower across the lawn, and the hardwoods beyond the fence change color.

Things to Do Near Windsor Castle Park

The park’s trails cover more than 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) through woodland, open fields and along the tidal shore of Cypress Creek, with bridges and overlooks above the marsh and a wooded ravine. The canoe and kayak launch off Kayak Lane has seasonal rentals, and from there it is about 800 meters (half a mile) of paddling north to the Pagan River. There is also a fishing pier, a dog park and a mountain bike trail. The park is a site on the Virginia Bird and Wildlife Trail, where ospreys and bald eagles fish over the creek, belted kingfishers work the banks, clapper rails hide in the marsh and waterfowl spend the winter. Virginia Bluebird Society volunteers keep eastern bluebird nest boxes along Kayak Lane, and fiddler crabs show on the mud below the marsh bridges at low tide.

Downtown Smithfield is within walking distance. The Isle of Wight County Museum, founded in 1976, covers colonial history, the Smithfield ham industry, the Blackwater River, the Civil War and the Cold War, and includes a turn-of-the-century country store. It is also home to a ham cured by P.D. Gwaltney Jr. in 1902 that hung forgotten from a packing-house rafter for 20 years and was later advertised as the world’s oldest Smithfield ham. The museum runs group tours of the Windsor Castle manor house by appointment.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Windsor Castle Park located?

It is in Smithfield, Isle of Wight County, in southeastern Virginia, USA, on the neck of land where Cypress Creek meets the Pagan River. That is about 33 kilometers (21 miles) west-northwest of downtown Norfolk in a straight line. The main entrance is at 301 Jericho Road.

What can you see on the Windsor Castle Park Webcam?

The camera looks over the lawn of the old farm: red outbuildings on the left, a white picket fence across the middle, a paved path curving off to the right, another red building at the far right and a brick terrace with a lamp post in the foreground. Open water shows between the trees in the distance, and a white clapboard building edges into the far left.

What is the weather like in Smithfield, Virginia?

Mild in winter and hot and humid in summer. January highs average about 9 C (48 F) with nights near freezing, and July highs average about 31 C (88 F). July is also the wettest month.

How old is the Windsor Castle manor house in Smithfield?

The house was probably begun by about 1725, judging by archaeology and its brickwork, on land Arthur Smith I patented in 1637. It was enlarged after 1755 and again in the 1840s.

Is Windsor Castle Park related to Windsor Castle in England?

No. This Windsor Castle is a colonial Virginia farmhouse, not a royal residence, and the name is first recorded on the property in 1884.

Can you go kayaking at Windsor Castle Park?

Yes. A canoe and kayak launch off Kayak Lane puts paddlers on tidal Cypress Creek, with rentals in season, and the Pagan River is about 800 meters (half a mile) to the north.

What wildlife lives at Windsor Castle Park?

Ospreys, bald eagles, kingfishers, wading birds and clapper rails use the creek and marsh. White-tailed deer, raccoons, muskrats, river otters, turtles and fiddler crabs have all been recorded in the park.

Source: Smithfield Parks and Recreation