A watercolour showing the castle on the left, seen from the Menai Straits.

Thomas Miles Richardson jnr. was born in Newcastle and spent much of his early career there as a pupil of his father (of the same name). He exhibited a view of Caernarvon Castle at the Old Watercolour Society exhibition of 1841, which was described by a critic in the Art Union as 'a fine copy of one of the most extensive and interesting ruins in Great Britain'.

During their tour of the west coast of Britain in August 1847, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their party saw Caernarvon Castle (built by Edward I in the thirteenth century) from the royal yacht, but did not land there. This date has been associated with the watercolour, but it is possible that it was painted earlier than this date, or acquired and inserted later into Victoria and Albert's View Album.

This watercolour was originally mounted in View Album IV. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert compiled nine View Albums during their marriage. These albums contained watercolours and drawings documenting their life together and were arranged in chronological order. The albums were dismantled in the early twentieth century and rebound in new volumes both in a different arrangement and with additional items, but a written record of their original contents and arrangement still exists.