Relined and in an original carved gilt frame with minor damages and repairs to centre bottom and lower right rebate. Unglazed, not backed. According to Constable, when the painting was cleaned after the 1947 sale it proved to be in good condition and the 'torrent' was revealed to be a sandpit, hence the new title.
Kate Lowry has noted: Original support is simple weave medium-weight linen canvas, now lined onto a close weave fabric with glue-paste adhesive. This treatment was perhaps carried out at the time of cleaning in 1947. Original turnovers were not examined; possibly these were removed at time of relining. Lining treatment has flattened the paint texture throughout somewhat. The four member pine stretcher, which has square mortice joints with provision for keying out, probably dates from the relining. Lining is in good condition. It was not possible to be sure of the colour of the original priming or ground, but the general tone of the whole painting is dark and a warm brown underpaint underlies all of the landscape and foliage masses. There is no sign of any reserve around the foliage masses against the sky, but an impasto of white cloud is painted down to the foliage against the sky at the centre of the composition. The foliage of the trees is very dark and appears to have been augmented in places with regular dots of lighter colour, possibly by a later hand. These underlie the present varnish. Under UV light minor retouches over the present varnish are visible in the foliage against the sky at upper right and in foreground foliage at lower right. Extensive areas of filling and retouching are present down the right hand edge of the painting and particularly at the top right corner in sky which can be observed in raking light where cracks have lifted. A large old fill and retouch is also present in the sandpit above and behind the central rock. Minor retouches strengthen the figures. Some drying cracks in foreground darks. Vection cracks are visible in upper right sky formed along the inside edge of the stretcher. General condition is sound.
