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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > West Country 1811 > Devonshire Coast, No.1 Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Glastonbury: The Abbey and Town from Wearyall Hill 1811

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Glastonbury: The Abbey and Town from Wearyall Hill’ 1811
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 171 Recto:
Glastonbury: The Abbey and Town from Wearyall Hill 1811
D08682
Turner Bequest CXXIII 168
Pencil on white wove writing paper, 75 x 117 mm
Part watermark ‘th | 6’
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘168’ top left, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CXXIII – 168’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner’s sketch of Glastonbury is from Wearyall Hill, south-west of Magdalene Street, which runs in front of the ruins to the right, looking north-east towards the centre of the town. The massive crossing piers of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey are seen beyond the steep roof and lantern of the Abbot’s Kitchen. St Benedict’s Church is on the left, with the taller tower of St John the Baptist’s Church towards the centre. Despite much modern development the hillside remains open and the view is readily recognisable.
Turner looked east-north-east from this viewpoint to St Michael’s Tower on the Tor beyond the edge of the town on the right for the sketch on folio 170 verso opposite (D08681; CXXIII 167a), in a continuation of the view to the east-north-east; as the two sketches were made with the book turned horizontally, they appear one above the other.
For a distant view of Glastonbury Tor from the north, apparently inscribed ‘Avalon’, see folio 122 verso (D08595; CXXIII 119a), under which Turner’s possible awareness of the Arthurian associations of the site is discussed.

Matthew Imms
June 2011

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Glastonbury: The Abbey and Town from Wearyall Hill 1811 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 2011, 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-glastonbury-the-abbey-and-town-from-wearyall-hill-r1137160, accessed 19 April 2024.