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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Wales and Isle of Wight 1795-1800 > South Wales Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscriptions by Turner and Another Hand: A Welsh Itinerary and Notes 1795

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscriptions by Turner and Another Hand: A Welsh Itinerary and Notes’ 1795
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
First Flyleaf, Verso:
Inscriptions by Turner and Another Hand: A Welsh Itinerary and Notes 1795
D40555
Pen and brown ink on white wove paper, 264 x 203 mm
Inscribed in a secretary hand in pen and brown ink with itinerary (see main catalogue entry)
Inscribed by Turner in pencil with further notes (see main catalogue entry)
Stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram bottom left
The whole page is taken up with the following notes in pen and ink. Turner’s pencil annotations are indicated in italics:
          To Haverford west. 16 Miles (by water) X 
The Old Castle hardly worth notice’ [?is] Converted into a Goal [sic] 
          Picton Castle & back 10 Miles 
The Old Castle scarcely worth visiting   a Seat of Lord Minto 
          To St Davids and back 36 Miles’ no Inn 
on the Right you pass the a [sic] considerable Tower the remains of Roche Castle 
at St Brides Bay a fine Sea View. St Davids Church, The ruins of the Bishops Palace 
          To Narberth 10 Miles. 
on the Left abt 2 Miles distant stands Langhaddon Castle a considerable Ruin 
          To St Clear 13 Miles 
On coming out of Narberth you have a view of the Remains of a Castle 
all this Road is very Picturesque 
          To Carmarthen 9 Miles Ivy Bush Inn 
nothing worth visiting Caerkennan Castle 5 Miles from 
Landilo    To Landilo thro: Ld Dynevers Grounds 18 Miles 
The River Towy (which passes by Carmarthen  empties itself into the Sea at 
Lanstephan) in the middle of the Valley & on a Hill stands Druslwyn Castle 
a little farther is Grongar Hill, Newton (Lady Dinevor’s Seat) very beautiful 
          To Landovery 12 Miles 
A good Bridge, and an Old Castle.  
<X ...>   To Brecknock 20 Miles. 3 Bridges and a Castle 
X Golden Lion Inn 
fine Mountainous View along this Road. Ascend the highest Mountain 
calld the Van of the Beacon – The Priory Church at Brecknock, 
          X   To Abergavenny (by Langhors Pool) 22 Miles 
View this Pool. On the Road you will pass the Castles of, Rulch, Crickhowel 
& Tretower – Nothing in Abergavenny worth seeing. a Castle & Bridge 
Goodrich   To Monmouth 16 Miles Munow Bridge 
Castle     To Ross 12 Miles by land – 
fine Views on the River Wye.   M 
This itinerary of a South Welsh tour begins on the inside of the front cover (D40553), continuing on the recto of the present leaf (D40554) and concluding on the recto of the second flyleaf opposite (D40556).
‘Langhaddon’ is Llawhaden Castle. Turner’s ‘Caerkennan’ is Carreg Cennan, which he was to study in a sequence on drawings in his Hereford Court sketchbook, used on he 1798 tour of Wales; see Tate D01267–D01270, D01341 (Turner Bequest XXXVIII 17, 18, 19, 20, 87). ‘Rulch’ is Bwlch.
Concerning ‘Abergavenny’, it is odd that Turner’s advisor did not mention the Priory Church with its impressive early monuments. Turner was to make drawings of Abergavenny when he travelled along the Usk and the Towy in 1798; see the Dynevor Castle sketchbook (Tate D01494–D01497; Turner Bequest XL 19a–20, 20a–21), and Tate D00724 (Turner Bequest XXIX S).
There is a drawing inscribed ‘Mon[n]ow Bridge Monmouth’ on folio 61 recto (D00617; Turner Bequest XXVI 63). Turner drew part of ‘Goodrich Castle’ on folio 29 recto (D00581; Turner Bequest XXVI 28), and a distant view on folio 55 recto (D00610; Turner Bequest XXVI 56).

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Inscriptions by Turner and Another Hand: A Welsh Itinerary and Notes 1795 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, 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-inscriptions-by-turner-and-another-hand-a-welsh-itinerary-r1140877, accessed 19 April 2024.