J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1831 > Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Four Views of Barnard Castle 1831

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Four Views of Barnard Castle’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 34 Recto:
Four Views of Barnard Castle 1831
D25827
Turner Bequest CCLXVI 34
Pencil on white wove paper, 187 x 114 mm
Inscribed in blue ink by John Ruskin ‘34’ bottom right descending vertically, and ‘342’ bottom left descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLXVI 34’ bottom left descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the sketchbook turned to the right are four sketches of the town of Barnard Castle from the banks of the River Tees to the south. The top two and bottom sketch, when taken in order from top to bottom, show a progression away from the castle in the direction of Turner’s next destination, Egglestone Abbey, which lies about a mile to the south-east of Barnard Castle.
The castle is therefore fairly prominent in the top sketch, seen to the right of the two-arched bridge. At the top right of this sketch is the top of St Mary’s Church tower. The tower is clearer in the second sketch down in which the town of Barnard Castle and the castle itself can no longer be seen. In the bottom sketch the church and castle are not visible, but an arched bridge is. This could be either the castle bridge or Abbey Bridge (which is near Egglestone Abbey, to the south-east of the town).
The third sketch down takes us to the opposite bank of the Tees from Barnard Castle, probably somewhere around Egglestone Abbey. Barnard Castle stands on a raised bank towards the top of the sketch with St Mary’s to the right. The buildings by the river in the foreground may be the paper mill near Egglestone Abbey, shown on folio 34 verso (D25828).

Thomas Ardill
September 2009

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Four Views of Barnard Castle 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-four-views-of-barnard-castle-r1134194, accessed 25 April 2024.