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

In addition to a view of the western elevation of Caerlaverock Castle, on this page there are also various little sketches and notes relating to details of the castle.

Finberg has deciphered the inscription at the top right of the page as ‘Deer lying down by a tree’.1 This refers to the image on the coat of arms above the arched entrance at the north, which Turner sketched at the bottom left of the page. To the right of this he has also sketched part of another coat of arms with the inscription ‘Sp[read] Eagle’. This is the third from the left on the bottom row of fifteen images above each of the doorways and windows of the east range of the Nithdale Lodging inside the castle walls. Another inscription, presumably transcribed from the castle, reads ‘ER’.

At the top left of the page Turner has drawn one of the corbels that line the top of the castle. A building which is also drawn on folio 53 (D25865) can be seen at the left of the present page, situated behind the castle. The castle visitor centre now stands on the location of this building.